DENVER ? Hawai?i’s Thalia Amanakis and Fresno State’s Sharon Ayala have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’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 Amanakis and Ayala. This is the first season that honors for both “Track” and “Field” athletes will be awarded each week.
Amanakis, a junior from Sydney, Australia, (Tangara), captured the 400-meter hurdles title at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, Calif., clocking a meet record and NCAA regional qualifying time of 58.52. This marks the second-consecutive year that she has qualified for the NCAA regional in the 400-meter hurdles. Amanakis also finished third in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 13.95, just three one-hundredths of a second from the NCAA regional standard in the event.
Ayala, a sophomore from Avenal, Calif., (Avenal), broke the Fresno State school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 201’ 9”, earning a second-place finish at the USC Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif. Ayala broke her own school record in the event and improved on her previous NCAA regional qualifying mark by over a foot-and-a-half.
Other Track nominees included: Megan Olivetti of Boise State finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the USC Trojan Invitational with a personal-best time of 14.23 ... Roxanne Sellick of Fresno State won the 1,500-meter run at the USC Trojan Invitational, beating out 39 other competitors with a time of 4:30.08 ... Antoinette Cobb of Louisiana Tech earned a collegiate fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.40, and was also a member of the third-place 4x100-meter relay team at the Snowbird Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. ... Caprice Bradshaw of Nevada ran a personal-best 4:43.58 in the 1,500-meter run at the Arizona Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, Ariz., good for tenth overall ... Stacie Lifferth-Dorius of Utah State won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Arizona Willie Williams Classic, posting an NCAA regional qualifying time of 10:46.61, good for third-fastest in Aggie history.
Other Field nominees included: Emily Sheppard of Hawai?i set a new meet record and NCAA regional qualifying mark in the high jump, placing first and clearing 5’ 8.75” (1.75m) at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, Calif. ... Nadia Alexander of Louisiana Tech took second place in the discus with a throw of 152’ 1” at the Snowbird Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. ... Constance McAlman of Nevada earned a personal-best in the hammer throw at the Hornet Invitational with a toss of 182’ 2” (55.16m), placing her fifth all-time in Wolf Pack history ... Jordan Veney of New Mexico State recorded a personal-best in the hammer throw at the Willie Williams Classic, tossing 156’ 2”, placing her fifth all-time in Aggie history ... Krista Larson of Utah State placed third in the hammer throw with a personal-best distance of 171’ 5” at the Arizona Willie Williams Classic, ranking her seventh all-time in Utah State history.
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