University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Nikki Boertman
Tigers Track And Field: 2016-17 Review
Aug 04, 2017 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
"By The Numbers" look at the program's success in competition, classroom.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Another collegiate academic/athletic year has come and gone. And, another successful campaign in both the arena of competition and classroom for the University of Memphis track and field program.
Head coach Kevin Robinson simply calls it "the total package" – student-athletes excelling both in the classroom and on the field. Since he took over prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Robinson continues to stress this to his student-athletes on a daily basis, and the numbers prove it. In competition, Robinson's program has produced nearly 300 all-conference performers and 150 NCAA Regional qualifiers, over 100 conference individual champions and 34 All-Americans. Equally impressive in the classroom, Robinson has had over 220 conference all-academic selections and over 70 national all-academic honorees.
"Our student-athletes stepped up again and showed what this program represents," said Robinson. "We performed well in competition, and from all the academic honors we earned, we also did our job in the classroom.
"This shows the total picture of what we're trying to do here. I'm thrilled for the student-athletes and what they accomplished. When we can compete at the highest level athletically and also perform at the same or higher level academically, that says a lot about our program and the student-athletes we have."
The following is a "By The Numbers" look at the 2016-17 Memphis track and field/cross country academic and athletic accomplishments:
Academic
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2016-17 Indoor
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2016 Cross Country
Head coach Kevin Robinson simply calls it "the total package" – student-athletes excelling both in the classroom and on the field. Since he took over prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Robinson continues to stress this to his student-athletes on a daily basis, and the numbers prove it. In competition, Robinson's program has produced nearly 300 all-conference performers and 150 NCAA Regional qualifiers, over 100 conference individual champions and 34 All-Americans. Equally impressive in the classroom, Robinson has had over 220 conference all-academic selections and over 70 national all-academic honorees.
"Our student-athletes stepped up again and showed what this program represents," said Robinson. "We performed well in competition, and from all the academic honors we earned, we also did our job in the classroom.
"This shows the total picture of what we're trying to do here. I'm thrilled for the student-athletes and what they accomplished. When we can compete at the highest level athletically and also perform at the same or higher level academically, that says a lot about our program and the student-athletes we have."
The following is a "By The Numbers" look at the 2016-17 Memphis track and field/cross country academic and athletic accomplishments:
Academic
- 1Â Â Â Â 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee
- Chardae Greenlee
- Selected as American Athletic Conference's nominee for the honor; first time a Memphis female student-athlete has been chosen to represent The American
- One of 58 nominees from NCAA Division I level and 145 candidates from across all NCAA Divisions
- 1Â Â Â Â Academic All-America
- Olushola Olojo (National Third Team; All-District First Team)
- Second-straight year the men's squad had an Academic All-American
- 1Â Â Â Â Â USTFCCCA All-Academic Team (Cross Country only)
- Women's team only (men not eligible for this honor because it did not compete in the regional meet)
- Memphis women's had second-highest GPA of the 11 American Athletic Conference schools among the all-academic team honorees
- Sixth-consecutive year the women's team earned this honor (2011-16)
- 2Â Â Â Â Â USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees (Cross Country only)
- Chelsea Ladd and Martina Rodriguez Sala
- First two Memphis student-athletes in program history to earn this honor for cross country season
- 6th  USTFCCCA All-Academic Team (Track and Field teams only)
- Sixth-straight year that both squads earned this academic accolade
- Both teams rank in top-five among American Athletic Conference programs (men, 2nd; women, 5th) on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team list (rank by team GPA)
- 12Â Â Â Graduates in 2016-17
| Men's Graduates | Women's Graduates |
| Alex Klatt | Dorina Baiker |
| Yannik Schaly | Meghan Christensen |
| Luke Vaughn | Chardae Greenlee |
| Christopher Walker | Rebeka Holt |
| Wade Wells | Destinee Lansden |
| Jada Parker | |
| Abigail Tankersley |
- 14Â Â Â USTFCCCA All-Academic honorees (Track and Field teams only)
- Led American Athletic Conference in total selections (14) and men's honorees (9); tied for league lead with five (5) women honorees
- Men's nine selections were tied for eighth-best nationally
- Third-consecutive year and fourth time in last five seasons the program had double-digit honorees (12 in 2012-13; 13 in 2014-15; school-record 15 in 2015-16)
| USTFCCCA All-Academic (Men's Team) | USTFCCCA All-Academic (Women's Team) |
| Lennard Biere | Dorina Baiker |
| Michael Criticos | Cera Chavez |
| Kolbeinn Gunnarsson | Chardae Greenlee |
| Adam Neelly | Rebeka Holt |
| Olushola Olojo | Ashley Pryke |
| Yannik Schaly | |
| Rafael Vallery | |
| Luke Vaughn | |
| Jordan Wesner |
- 53Â Â American Athletic Conference All-Academic Selections (T&F/XC combined)
- Third-most among AAC track and field/cross country programs in 2016-17
- Had 50 or more conference all-academic student-athletes each of the four years in AAC
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- 2Â Â Â Â Â All-America performers
- Ashley Pryke (outdoor women's javelin; All-America first team)
- Michael Criticos (outdoor men's javelin; All-America second team)
- 3rd  Ashley Pryke's NCAA finish in the women's javelin
- Finish is second-highest in Memphis women's track and field history
- Second to Susan King's 2008 second-place finish in women's shot put
- 3Â Â Â Â Â American Athletic Conference Outdoor Champions
- Chardae Greenlee (triple jump)
- Ashley Pryke (women's javelin)
- Jordan Wesner (men's high jump)
- 3/6Â Â Men's/women's team finishes at The American Championships
- Men place in the top-three for the third time in four years in AAC
- Women post highest finish at a conference championships outdoor meet since 1996
- 5Â Â Â Â Outdoor school records set
- Davon DeMoss (men's 100m)
- Jordan Wesner (men's high jump)
- Cera Chavez (women's 200m)
- Chelsea Ladd (women's 10,000m)
- Ashley Pryke (women's javelin)
- 14Â Â All-American Athletic Conference Outdoor honorees
- Double-digit all-conference outdoor honorees each of four years in AAC
| Men's All-AAC honorees | Women's All-AAC honorees |
| Brock Ballard | Dominique Chatman |
| Michael Criticos | Cera Chavez |
| Davon DeMoss | Nina de Poorter |
| Kolbeinn Gunnarsson | Chardae Greenlee |
| Jason Kimmet | Ashley Pryke |
| Naaman Norment | |
| Rafael Vallery | |
| Christopher Walker | |
| Jordan Wesner |
- 17Â Â NCAA East Preliminaries qualifiers
- Second-most for a season under Coach Robinson
- 17 is second to the 19 qualifiers in 2013
- The 17 qualifiers competed in 24 events
- Averaging 15 NCAA Preliminaries/regional qualifiers since 2011
| Men's NCAA East Preliminaries Qualifiers | Women's NCAA East Preliminaries Qualifiers |
| Michael Criticos | Dorina Baiker |
| Davon DeMoss | Dominique Chatman |
| Kolbeinn Gunnarsson | Cera Chavez |
| Naaman Norment | Chardae Greenlee |
| Christopher Walker | Rebeka Holt |
| Adam Neelly | Destinee Lansden |
| Yannik Schaly | Jada Parker |
| Rafael Vallery | Ashley Pryke |
| Jordan Wesner |
2016-17 Indoor
- 4Â Â Â Â American Athletic Conference Indoor Champions
- Olushola Olojo (men's triple jump)
- Martina Rodriguez Sala (women's mile)
- Jordan Wesner (men's high jump)
- Men's 4x400m (Christopher Walker, Kolbeinn Gunnarsson, LaForrest Church, Jason Kimmet)
- 8Â Â Â Â Â Indoor school records set
- Julian Sanchez-Pinto (men's 5000m)
- Luke Vaughn (men's shot put)
- Davon DeMoss (men's 60m and 200m)
- Simon Hosten (men's heptathlon)
- Martina Rodriguez Sala (women's mile)
- Chelsea Ladd (women's 5000m)
- Men's Distance Medley Relay (Matthew Viveiros, LaForrest Church, Matthew Kamph, Jason Kimmet)
- 13Â Â Â All-American Athletic Conference Indoor honorees
- Double-digit all-conference outdoor honorees in each of the four years in AAC
| Men's All-AAC honorees | Women's All-AAC honorees |
| Lennard Biere | Chardae Greenlee |
| LaForrest Church | Jada Parker |
| Davon DeMoss | Martina Rodriguez Sala |
| Kolbeinn Gunnarsson | |
| Simon Hosten | |
| Jason Kimmet | |
| Olushola Olojo | |
| Luke Vaughn | |
| Christopher Walker | |
| Jordan Wesner |
2016 Cross Country
- 1st Times 2: Men's, women's sweep two regular-season race titles
- Teams won the Rhodes Invitational and Austin Peay Invitational
- First time both men and women squads won two titles in the same season
- Last season with two men's crowns: 1998
- Last season with two women's titles: 1990
- 2Â Â Â Â Â All-NCAA South Region honorees (top-20 finishers)
- Chelsea Ladd (19th)
- Martina Rodriguez Sala (6th; highest individual finish at a regional meet)
- First time in school history the program had two all-region performers at the same regional meet
- 2Â Â Â Â Â All-American Athletic Conference honorees (top-15 finishers)
- Chelsea Ladd (4th)
- Martina Rodriguez Sala (3rd; highest individual finish at a conference meet)
- First time in school history the program had two all-conference runners at the same league meet
- 3rd  Women's finish at American Athletic Conference Championships
- Highest in program history
- Program's previous best finish was fifth in 1991
- 5Â Â Â Â Â Weeks ranked in the USTFCCCA Region Poll
- First regional ranking in program history came in mid-September (No. 12)
- Remained in regional poll for a school-record five-straight weeks
- Climbed as high as No. 7 in the poll (final poll before regional meet)
- 10th Women's finish at the NCAA South Region meet
- Highest in program history
- Program's previous best finish was 11th in 2005
Players Mentioned
Pole Vault
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Multi-event
/ Men's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi-event
/ Men's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
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