DENVER Rices Ben Wiggins and Louisiana Techs Doria Appleberry have been named the Western Athletic Conference mens and womens Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Wiggins, a junior from College Station, Texas, won the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Texas Relays. Running in lane nine, Wiggins was in fifth heading into the final 100 meters, then made up ground over the final hurdle, surging ahead through the final 30 meters to win in 50.27. He edged Florida's Dwight Ruff by 0.2 seconds with his regional qualifying time. Wiggins is the first Rice male Texas Relays 400-hurdles champion since Bryan Bronson in 1994.
Appleberry, a junior from Dallas, Texas, set the school record in the 400-hurdles while also being a part of two relay teams that also broke Tech records. Appleberry ran a 58.74 to set the school record and post a regional qualifying mark in the 400-hurdles. She also ran the third leg on the 4x100-meter relay that ran a time of 44.59 to set the school mark while recording a regional qualifying mark as the team advanced to the finals and finished fourth behind LSU, Baylor and Miami. In the 4x200 meter relay that set a school record of 1:35.38 and finished third, she led off the team. Appleberry also ran on the nationally-ranked mile relay and helped them qualify for the finals but the relay dropped the baton in the finals.
Additional mens nominees included: Keron Francis, Boise State; Joe Vasquez, Fresno State and Michael Robertson, SMU.
Additional womens nominees included: Abbey Elsberry, Boise State; Zinzi Evans, Fresno State; Tasha Monroe, HawaiI; Caira Hane, Nevada and Nevena Lendel, SMU.