Dillard’s Men’s Track & Field Program Is Ranked No. 21 Nationally In The Eighth USTFCCCA National Poll

New Orleans  – The Dillard men's track & field program is ranked at No. 21 nationally in the eighth released 2022 USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll on May 18, the organization announced today

Dillard received a total of 135.39 points in the poll. The program was ranked No. 5 in the first national poll, No. 7 in the second released poll, No. 8 for each of the next two weeks and then fell six spots to No. 14 in the fifth week despite winning their second consecutive GCAC Outdoor Championship on Saturday, April 23. The program fell another four spots in the sixth week to rank No. 18 nationally. Last week the program again dropped four spots to No. 22 despite not having competed as a squad since April 23 and being one of the few NAIA programs to garner an invitation to compete at the prestigious Penn Relays on April 29. This week the program moved up one spot to No. 21. Dillard is the only school from the state of Louisiana and in the GCAC to be ranked in the top-25 poll this week. Earlier in the week, the Dillard men were ranked No. 11 in the USTFCCCA South Region Poll.

The program has the second-ranked 4x100 relay group in the country (Willie McCaulley, Cody Branch, Kaleb McClendon and Jamaal Morris Jr.), the third-fastest 100m sprinter (Cody Branch), the fourth-ranked 200m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.), the seventh-ranked 100m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.), the 10th-ranked 200m sprinter (Cody Branch), the 14th-fastest 4x400m team (Cody Branch, Jamaal Morris Jr., Benjamin Todd and Kaleb McClendon), the 18th-ranked 400m sprinter (Cody Branch), the 21st 200m sprinter (Kaleb McClendon), the 23rd triple jumper (Julian Williams), the 25th-ranked 400m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.).

Dillard won the 2022 GCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship for the fourth time since 2010 on Saturday, April 23. The program had 15 event victories and 40 All-GCAC selections over the course of the two-days of competition. The program finished that up by seeing Jamaal Morris Jr. placing 17th in the 100m at the Penn Relays on April 29. DU saw their 4x100 relay team of Jamaal Morris Jr., Cody Branch, Kaleb McClendon and Willie McCaulley) get the invitation to the meet, but were not able to compete due to injury. The program finished second overall at the Carey Last Chance Meet on May 13. The program had four top-three finishes, four season bests and two event victories during the competition (the 4x100 relay team and Julian Williams in the triple jump).

The poll was voted on by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences around the country.

2022 USTFCCCA National Men's Track & Field TFRI (Track & Field Rating Index) Poll – No. 8 (5/18/22)

Next, Dillard's men's program is off to compete at the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama at Mickey Blackwell Stadium from May 25-27.
                                                                                              
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bleu Devils by following Dillard Athletics on Twitter at @GeauxDU, Facebook at Facebook.com/dillardbleudevils/ and Instagram at Instagram.com/dillardbleudevils/