DENVER SMUs Hannes Hopley and Rices Ally Daum have been named the Western Athletic Conference mens and womens Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Hopley, a junior from Rustenburg, South Africa, and the defending NCAA discus champion was impressive in winning the men's shot put with an NCAA provisional mark of 19.60m at the Texas Tech Quad on Saturday, Jan. 24. He was also the top collegiate finisher at the Red Raider All-Comers meet on Friday, Jan. 23, with a 19.36m heave.
Daum, a senior from Houston, cleared 13-03 (4.05m), tying teammate Beth Hinshaw in the meet for a new Rice record and provisionally qualifying for the NCAA championships. Heading into the meet, Daum's previous best was 12-01 1/2, an improvement of 14 inches. She posted a personal best three times during the course of the event. The old Rice record was 12-08 set by Hinshaw at the 2002 WAC Indoor Championships.
Additional mens nominees included: Devon Fanfair, Rice, Henderson Dottin, UTEP and Andrew Beard, Tulsa.
Additional womens nominees included: Eva Charfreitagova, SMU; Adriana Pirtea, UTEP and Shana Robinson, Tulsa.