NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Talladega College men's outdoor track and field is ranked No. 24 in the NAIA, the program's first-ever Top 25 national ranking, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association first regular season national rating index, released March 29.

The Tornadoes have 85.65 points in the poll after climbing 43 spots from the preseason rankings to crack into the Top 25. Dega is one of two Southern States Athletic Conference teams in the USTFCCCA NAIA Top 25, joining first-year SSAC member and defending national champion Life University, which is ranked 10th after opening the season No. 1. 

Southeastern (Fla.) is ranked No. 1, followed by British Columbia, The Master's (Calif.), Montreat (N.C.) and Florida Memorial in the Top 5. Keiser (Fla.), Lewis-Clark State, Westmont (Calif.) and Dillard (La.) round out the Top 10 ahead of Life (Ga.)

Individually, Talladega has five Top 20 individual/event times for the 2023 outdoor season so far.

Emmanuel Niang leads the NAIA with the fastest 110m hurdles time at 14.03.

Christian Louis has the 13th-best time in the 100m at (10.70), and Nastario Williams is 17th in the 200m (21.83).

The Tornadoes' 4x400 relay time of 3:17.25 is fifth in the NAIA, led by Niang, Williams, Jonathan Meadows and Louis, while the 4x100 relay time of 41.06 ranks eighth, posted by Anthony Gentles, Louis, Meadows and Williams.

Talladega will compete in its third meet of the season this weekend at the UAB Spring Invite in Birmingham, Alabama.