DENVER ? Utah State’s Steve Strickland and Boise State’s Simon Wardhaugh have been named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for the week of Apr. 7-13. This is the first career WAC Outdoor Athlete of the Week honor for Strickland and Wardhaugh.
Strickland, a sophomore from Orem, Utah, (Mountain View), clocked an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 8:57.03 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the UCLA Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif. Strickland’s season-best time placed him third in the event and he now leads the WAC by over 16 seconds.
Wardhaugh, a junior from Bracken Ridge, Australia, (Queensland), claimed the top spot in the Western Region and the third-best in the NCAA in the hammer throw with a toss of 224’ 2” (68.34m) to win the event at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The throw was a career-best for Wardhaugh, topping his previous best of 219’ 6” (66.90m) that he set at the 2007 Bronco Twilight Classic.
Other Track nominees included: Nick Cunningham of Boise State finished fourth in the 200-meter dash (21.28), good for third in the WAC, and also finished 12th in the 100-meter dash with a career-best time of 10.77 ... Al Fullwood of Louisiana Tech clocked an NCAA Regional qualifying time in the 400-meter dash (47.12), finishing second at the LSU Invitational.
Other Field nominees included: Chris Witscher of Fresno State took seventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 182’ 0” (55.48m) at the UCLA Invitational ... Blake Hadfield of Utah State placed eighth in the triple jump at the UCLA Invitational, leaping a season-best 47’ 10” (14.58m).
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