TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona is ranked No. 6 among women's programs and No. 22 among the men heading into this week's NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. The meet begins Wednesday at Hayward Field and continues through Saturday.
Arizona finished seventh among men's teams at last year's championships and 19th among the women.
Kansas, Texas A&M, Florida, LSU and Oregon rank ahead of Arizona in the women's rankings. Texas A&M is ranked No. 1 in the men's field.
The Wildcats qualified 12 entries for the women's championship, led by seniors Brigetta Barrett and Georganne Moline.
Barrett, an Olympic silver medalist, will be trying for her third consecutive outdoor title in the high jump and sixth overall NCAA title of her career. She set a collegiate record at the Pac-12 Championships with a jump of 6 feet, 6.25 inches and is unbeaten in her last 24 collegiate competitions. On Monday, she was named the West Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association.
Moline, who finished fifth at last year's London Olympics, holds the nation's No. 2 collegiate time in the 400-meter hurdles, behind Stanford's Kori Carter.
Senior Jen Bergman ranks sixth in the 10,000 meters after finishing 12th last year. Junior Julie Labonte ranks sixth in the discus and fourth in the shot put.
For the Arizona men, junior Lawi Lalang ranks No. 2 in the 10,000 meters and No. 12 in the 5,000 meters, and senior Edgar Rivera-Morales ranks No. 3 in the high jump. Lalang has won one NCAA cross country title and four indoor track and field titles in his Arizona career.
The Wildcats are led by 11th year coach Fred Harvey. He was named on Monday as the West Region Women's Coach of the Year by the coaches' association.
