MSU track ranked at No. 21

Coming off of a historic weekend at the Penn Relays that saw two school records and three relay crowns including two Championships of America, Mississippi State's men's track and field program came in at No. 21 in this week's United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings.

“I think we made a big statement with the wheels we won this weekend,” Bulldog head coach Steve Dudley said. “We should probably be a little higher, but most of our big marks came in non-NCAA events.”

Despite dropping five spots in the overall rankings, MSU remains inside the top 25 in four events in the latest #EventSquad rankings. The Bulldogs boast the nation's second-best 400-meter hurdles group, averaging 51.54, with three athletes among the top 40 individuals. Texas A&M leads with a 50.73 average.

State rates No. 5 in the 110-meter hurdles, with Arkansas the only Southeastern Conference team ranked higher. The Bulldogs' average is just 0.01 seconds off the Razorbacks' pace.

The four athletes on the school-record setting 4x800 meter relay team that won the Championship of America combined to rank eighth in the 800 meters. Marco Arop and Dejon Devroe lead that group at Nos. 15 and 16 in the NCAA in the 800 meters.

MSU averages 47.49 in the 400 meters and is No. 18 nationally. State's javelin duo is not eligible for #EventSquad rankings since the Bulldogs do not field four athletes in the event; however, Anderson Peters and Nicolas Quijera would average out to 80.85 meters (265-3) which is 13.23 meters (43-5) more than the current No. 1 team.