Delaware State boasts three Top 20 rankings in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association weekly report for the 2009 men’s outdoor season.

The Hornet men have the ninth-best 4x400-meter relay time among all Division I schools this outdoor season. The DSU team of Burton Clarke, Larrone Moore, Leslie Murray and Donte Holmes set a school-record with a time of 3:05.80 to capture the IC4A championship race at the Penn Relays on April 25.

Murray, a freshman, also posted the nation’s 11th-best time in the 400-meter hurdles this season when he was clocked at 50.54 seconds to win the MEAC championship in Greensboro, N.C. His 400-meter dash time of 46.41 seconds in the MEAC championships last weekend is 21st in the nation.

Moore’s MEAC Championship time of 20.75 seconds in the 200-meter dash ranks 19th in Division I this season, while he has the 27th fastest time in the 100-meter dash, 10.39 seconds, also at the conference championship meet.

Delaware State is 56th in the men’s outdoor track & field team rankings (out of 195) this season, just ahead of Clemson (No. 57) and Illinois (No. 58). The Hornets are second among MEAC teams, trailing only No. 45 Bethune-Cookman.

On the women’s side, Delaware State’s Nekisha Franklin posted the nation’s 53rd-best time in the 100-meter dash (11.63 sec.) during her first-place MEAC Championship performance last weekend. Franklin also has the 32nd-best time in the 200-meter dash (23.59), which she also turned in at the conference championship meet.

In the team standings, Delaware State is No. 155 (out of 209) among women’s Division I programs.