NEW ORLEANS- For the third consecutive week the Wichita State Women's Track & Field team has earned a spot in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

The Shockers moved up one spot to No. 19 in the USTFCCCA poll. WSU has improved its national rank every week of the 2013 indoor season. For the third week in a row the Shockers hold their highest ranking in school history as they prepare for the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday.

Last weekend, the Shockers competed in their final tune-up before the MVC Championship meet. Meg Loontjer won the women's pole vault at the Kansas State Open.

Wichita State also has several athletes delivering strong performances on the national level. Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton (5,000m), Tanya Friesen (pentathlon), and J'Lynn Ledesma (high jump) all rank in the top ten nationally.

Tuliamuk-Bolton has the Valley's top performance in three events, the mile run, the 3,000m, and the 5,000m. Ledesma has posted the best mark in the high jump, while Friesen ranks first in the pentathlon.

The Shocker women and Wichita State's men's team will both compete at the MVC Indoor Championships Feb. 23-24 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The WSU women will try to win their third Valley Indoor Championship in four years.

-Wichita State-