NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Plymouth State University men's and women's indoor track & field teams both appeared in the top 20 of the East Region as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its first Track & Field Rating Index (TFRI) of the season this week.
 
The women rank 14th in the East with 55.30 points, while the men rank 20th with 31.17 points.
 
The women's point total is buoyed by two top-five regional rankings earned last weekend at the Gordon Kelly Invitational at MIT. Junior Rose Karow (South Yarmouth, Mass.) posted the third-best time in the 800 meters in the region with a 2:22.14, while freshman Clare Tuohy (Sunapee, N.H.) ranks fifth in the 400 meters after clocking a 1:00.02 to win the event.
 
The team's 4x400 meter relay ranks eighth in the region with a time of 4:23.40, attained by sophomore Ani Flynn (Plymouth, N.H.), senior Cass Hanson (Stetson, Maine), sophomore Amelia Lefebvre (Greenland, N.H.), and Tuohy at the Middlebury Snowflake Invitational on Jan. 10. Flynn also ranks 10th in the 60 meter hurdles and 11th in the high jump.
 
The men's top ranking comes in the distance medley relay, as junior Ben Colby (Manchester, N.H.), senior Zach Hodge (Springfield, N.H.), sophomore Noah Francis (Bethlehem, N.H.), and junior Connor Phillips (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) teamed up for a 11:18.24 at the PSU Winter Classic last month. Freshman Enzo Valenti (Montville, Conn.) is ninth in the weight throw with a mark of 15.21 meters attained at the Panther Invitational two weeks ago, where senior Max Goodman (South Salem, N.Y.) ran the 13th-fastest 5,000 meters (15:55.49) in the region.
 
PSU's 4x400 meter relay team of freshmen Griffin Massahos (Londonderry, N.H.) and Devin Schlegel-Barber (Milton, Vt.), and sophomores Gabe Kean (Thornton, N.H.) and Isaias Aguasvivas Pena (Marblehead, Mass.) rank 15th after posting a 3:39.40 at Middlebury.
 
The TFRI is a complex mathematical system used as the benchmark to rank collegiate track and field teams since 2008.
 
Plymouth State heads to Southern Maine for the Husky Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 31).