NEW ORLEANS, La. – Following a series of strong performances at the season-opening SNHU Spring Open, the Plymouth State University outdoor track & field teams earned top-15 regional rankings as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its first Track & Field Rating Index (TFRI) of the outdoor season this week.
 
The men rank No. 13 in the East Region with 136.44 points, while the women are No. 15 with 122.03 points.
 
The men were highlighted by five performances that rank among the top 10 regionally. The 4x100-meter relay team – sophomore Ty Shipmon (Yonkers, N.Y.), freshmen Khalid Vicks (Kingston, Mass.) and Griffin Massahos (Londonderry, N.H.) and sophomore Gabe Kean (Thornton, N.H.) – combined for a 43.34, narrowly missing the school record to rank fifth in the region. Massahos also ran 22.35 in the 200 meters to rank seventh regionally.
 
PSU's 4x400-meter relay team – senior Zach Hodge (Springfield, N.H.), sophomore Isaias Aguasvivas Pena (Marblehead, Mass.), senior Luke Cloutier (Limerick, Maine) and junior Connor Phillips (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) – won the event in 3:32.87, ranking ninth in the East Region. Freshman Cam Lee (Northwood, N.H.) won the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record 56.21, ranking 10th, while classmate Enzo Valenti (Montville, Conn.) threw 41.51 meters in the discus to also rank 10th.
 
The women posted five top-ten regional marks as well. The 4x100-meter relay team – sophomore Ani Flynn (Plymouth, N.H.), freshman Lisi Palmer (Brunswick, Maine), senior Cass Hanson (Stetson, Maine) and freshman Clare Tuohy (Sunapee, N.H.) – set a school-record 49.76, ranking sixth in the East. The 4x400-meter relay team of junior Rose Karow (South Yarmouth, Mass.), sophomore Abby Marston (Greene, Maine) and freshmen Madison Geddes (Penacook, N.H.) and Emma Talon (Southington, Conn.) ran the sixth-fastest time in the region (4:31.09).
 
Sophomore Mia Sweeney (Plymouth, Mass.) placed fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with 13:00.90, the sixth-fastest mark in the East. Tuohy set a program record in the 200 meters (25.82) to finish fourth in the event, ranking eighth regionally. Flynn added a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (15.93), ranking 10th, and set a school record in the 400-meter hurdles (1:07.07) to place second and rank 11th in the East.
 
The TFRI is a complex mathematical system used as the benchmark to rank collegiate track and field teams since 2008.
 
The Panthers compete at the Jim Boulanger Invitational at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday (Apr. 4).