T&FN’s 62nd National Men’s Relay Rankings — Florida Best Of The SEC

Not surprisingly, versatile Grant Holloway was right in the middle of Gator baton efforts. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

As it so often is in all corners of the sport these days, the Southeastern Conference was dominant in our National Men’s Relay Rankings, capturing 4 of the first 5 spots, with Florida eking out a narrow 1-point win over defending champ Arkansas for the top spot. It was title No. 4 for the Gators this century, adding to those won in ’01, ’05, ’09 & ’14. Mike Holloway’s speedy Gainesville gang was 1 of only 3 teams which scored in 4 different events (none of them No. 1s), being joined by Arkansas & Mississippi State. The only squad to earn a pair of No. 1s was third-rated Houston, which captured the 4×1 and 4×2.
It was a tough year to do this kind of compilation, with same-weekend staging of the Penn Relays, Drake Relays and the new National Relays serving to spread out the talent and reducing the number of head-to-head confrontations to help sort things out.
Each event (other than the shuttle hurdles, which was ranked just 5-deep and scored 5-4-3-2-1) was ranked 10-deep and scored 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The 48 men’s schools/teams which scored points in ’18 (with details for those in the top 10):

Place School Score Events Ranked In
1. Florida 30 4)4 x 100; 3)4 x 200; 4)4 x 400; 3)Sprint Medley
2. Arkansas 29 3)4 x 100; 4)4 x 200; 6)4 x 400; 2)4 x Mile
3. Houston 26 1)4 x 100; 1)4 x 200; 5)4 x 400
=4. LSU 23 5)4 x 100; 2)4 x 200; 3)4 x 400;
=4 Mississippi State 23 6)4 x 200; 3)4 x 800; 6)Sprint Medley; 1)4 x 110H
=6. Texas A&M 17 2)4 x 400; 10)4 x 800; 4)Sprint Medley
=6. Villanova 17 1)4 x Mile; 4)Distance Medley
8. Texas Tech 14 10)4 x 100; 8)4 x 400; 1)Sprint Medley
9. Penn State 13 7)4 x 800; 2)Sprint Medley;
=10. USC 12 9)4 x 100; 1)4 x 400
=10. Virginia Tech 12 9)4 x 800; 1)Distance Medley
   12. Georgetown 11; 13. Hoka New Jersey-New York TC 10; 14. tie, Atlanta TC, Ohio State & Oregon 9; 17. tie, Indiana, Princeton & Stanford 8; 20. tie, District TC & Texas 7; 22. tie, Clemson, Iona, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee & Notre Dame 6; 27. tie, Adams State, Florida State & Georgia Tech 5; 30. tie, Iowa State, North Carolina A&T, Southern Mississippi, TCU, Tennessee & Utah State 4; 36. tie, Duke, Northwestern Louisiana, Oklahoma State, The Woodlands HS (Texas), UT Arlington & Wisconsin 3; 42. tie, Baylor, Iowa, Navy & Prairie View 2; 46. tie, George Washington, Seven Lakes HS (Katy, Texas) & Shore AC 1.
4 x 100
Other than an off-day at Mt. SAC when not operating with its big four, Houston was perfect, going 7-for-7, capping things off with a Collegiate Record 38.17 in winning the NCAA title… Runner-up Ohio State came on strongly at the end of the season, putting up 4 straight sub-39 clockings… 2-time defending champ LSU had only a same-time loss to Houston coming into the NCAA, but hopes for a third straight No. 1 evaporated with a DNF in the Eugene semis… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. Houston
2. Ohio State
3. Arkansas
4. Florida
5. LSU
6. Florida State
7. Southern Mississippi
8. Northwestern Louisiana
9. USC
10. Texas Tech
4 x 400
USC kept a rather low profile, running only 4 indoor meets and only a pair outside. But when the undercover version ran faster than the accepted World Record and the outdoor foursome (Ricky Morgan 45.9, Rai Benjamin’ 43.6, Zach Shinnick 45.85, Michael Norman 43.62) clicked for a Collegiate Record it was a done deal… Texas A&M, runner-up at both collegiate nationals, was an easy No. 2, a spot down from last year… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. USC
2. Texas A&M
3. LSU
4. Florida
5. Houston
6. Arkansas
7. TCU
8. Texas Tech
9. Baylor
10. Iowa
4 x Mile
All 10 of the ranked teams came from either Penn or the National Relays. Imagine how nice it would have been to have all 10 of them in one race somewhere… Penn was clearly the faster race, so Villanova gets the nod for No. 1… It’s the 13th win for the Wildcats in this event, with Arkansas still the leader at 16… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. Villanova
2. Arkansas
3. Georgetown
4. Princeton
5. Iona
6. Adams State
7. Kentucky
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas
10. George Washington
Distance Medley
As happens frequently in this event these days, most of the fast running was done in qualifying for the NCAA Indoor: 8 of the year’s 10 top times were made at Notre Dame’s Wilson Invitational. But Rankings are about more than just running fast and the No. 1 spot goes to undefeated NCAA winner Virginia Tech… The best of the outdoor schools was Penn winner Villanova in No. 4… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. Virginia Tech
2. Oregon
3. Stanford
4. Villanova
5. Notre Dame
6. Texas
7. Utah State
8. Wisconsin
9. Indiana
10. Princeton
4 x 200
Consistent Houston ran the two fastest collegiate times of the year—just 0.01 apart—on consecutive weekends early in the outdoor season… Defending No. 1 Arkansas won the inaugural National Relays at home but could earn no higher than No. 4… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. Houston
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Arkansas
5. Middle Tennessee
6. Mississippi State
7. Tennessee
8. The Woodlands HS, Texas
9. Prairie View
10. Seven Lakes HS (Katy, Texas)
4 x 800
In an era when actual clubs (as opposed to all-star groups) rarely run relays, this was a big event for the post-collegiate crowd, taking spots 1, 2 & 4, with the New Jersey-New York bunch adding to the crown they won in ’14. Their list-leading 7:11.30 claimed a new World Indoor Record… A Penn win gave Mississippi State the honor of being the top school… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams. Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. HOKA NJ-NY TC
2. Atlanta TC
3. Mississippi State
4. District TC
5. Indiana
6. Georgia Tech
7. Penn State
8. Georgetown
9. Virginia Tech
10. Texas A&M
Sprint Medley
No. 7 a year ago, Texas Tech cranked off the year’s best time in beating a solid Texas Relays field (including reigning No. 1 Texas A&M) to earn the top spot… The 10 ranked squads won 6 different meets among them… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 10 ranked teams.
1. Texas Tech
2. Penn State
3. Florida
4. Texas A&M
5. Clemson
6. Mississippi State
7. Iowa State
8. Duke
9. Kentucky
10. Iowa
Shuttle Hurdles
Mississippi State was a slam-dunk No. 1, producing the year’s two fastest times in winning both Florida and Penn… Click here to see the complete seasonal records of the 5 ranked teams.
1. Mississippi State
2. North Carolina A&T
3. UT Arlington
4. Navy
5. Shore AC

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