Storm men come in seventh in latest national rankings

NEW ORLEANS - The Simpson College men's track and field team was ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA National Rankings, rising 13 spots.

The ranking is the program's highest all-time position since the USTFCCCA rankings began to be released in 2010. The Storm are also the highest-ranked conference team and were the third-largest mover in the rankings from last week.

"Obviously it is fantastic for the program to be at this spot this late in the season," said Storm associate head coach James Hoffman. "Led by seniors Spencer Moon and Max Cleveland, we have some individuals and relays that are looking to accomplish some big goals over the next couple weeks at the conference and national championships."

Moon and Cleveland accounted for 55.26 of the Storm's 61.27 points in three events. Moon ranks second in the country in the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:59.20 after becoming the seventh athlete in Division III history to break the 14-minute barrier in the event. He also ranks fourth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:04.91, earning 35.32 points between the two events. Both of his performances are the current school and conference records.

Cleveland is currently ranked second in the country in the 60 meter hurdles, after running a blistering 7.95 to break the school and conference record. Cleveland is ranked 11th all-time in Division history and collected 19.94 points to add to the Storm's total.

Moon also contributed to the distance medley relay being ranked tenth in the country, earning another 4.99 points. James Murray, Brenden Godbout, and Adam Gruhn joined Moon in clocking a 9:59.06 (9:51.04 converted time) which was a new school record.

Ulysses Patterson is the final Storm athlete to earn points for the Storm, after his school-record performance in the heptathlon. Patterson scored 4,835 points in the event to rank 18th in the country.

The Storm begin competition at the American Rivers Conference Championships on Friday morning at Dubuque.

To view the complete rankings, click here.