DENVER ? Utah State’s Dasheek Akwenye and Louisiana Tech’s Larry Jones have been named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for the week of Mar. 17-23. This is the first career WAC Outdoor Athlete of the Week honor for both Akwenye and Jones. This is the first season that honors for both “Track” and “Field” athletes will be awarded each week.
Akwenye, a senior from Windhoek, Nambia, (Centaurus), clocked an NCAA regional qualifying time of 47.24 in the 400-meter dash at the Arizona Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, Ariz., good for third place and ninth all-time in Utah State history. Akwenye also anchored the 4x100-meter relay that finished second with a time of 41.35.
Jones, a freshman from Ruston, La., (Ruston), earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in his first meet as a Bulldog, tossing 175’ 3” (53.42m) in the discus. Jones’ throw was good enough for a first place finish at the Snowbird Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.
Other Track nominees included: Nick Cunningham of Boise State finished third in both the 100 and 200-meter dash at the USC Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif., clocking times of 10.78 and 21.54, respectively ... Frank Sanders of Fresno State ran to a third-place finish in the 800-meter run at the USC Invitational, crossing the finish line at 1:51.62 ... Cory Denstel of Louisiana Tech finished first in the 800-meter run at the Snowbird Invitational, clocking a time of 1:52.31.
Other Field nominees included: Zacharias Arnos of Boise State won the triple jump at the USC Trojan Invitational, earning an NCAA regional qualifying mark with a leap of 50’ 3.25” (15.32m).
-WAC-