DENVER ? Louisiana Tech’s Chasidee Lewis and Boise State’s Eleni Kafourou have been named the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for the week of Apr. 14-20. This is the second career WAC Outdoor Athlete of the Week honor for both Lewis and Kafourou, with Lewis earning the award once already this season, and Kafourou earning the award once as a freshman. This is the first season that honors for both “Track” and “Field” athletes will be awarded each week.
Lewis, a freshman from Alexandria, La., (Alexandria) ran a WAC-leading 100-meter dash at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., clocking a WAC-best time of 11.56 to finish second in the event. Her time was also an NCAA Regional qualifying mark and ranks her 26th in the NCAA this season.
Kafourou, a junior from Athens, Greece, (9th Lykeium of Pireas), broke the Bronco school record in the long jump at the Azusa Pacific Invitational in Azusa, Calif., with a WAC-best leap of 20’ 10” (6.35m) to finish fifth in the event. Kafourou also took fifth in the triple jump with another WAC-best distance of 42’ 6” (12.95m). Both of her jumps were NCAA Regional qualifying marks.
Other Track nominees included: Vanessa Sautebin of Fresno State finished second in the 100-meter hurdles at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., with an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 13.92 ... Christie Gordon of Idaho finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at the Long Beach Invitational with a time of 13.96 ... Ingrid Flores of New Mexico State won 5,000-meter run at the Ram Open in Fort Collins, Colo., clocking a time of 18:11.00, beating her next-closest competitor by 45 seconds ... Ashlee Cannon of Utah State posted a personal-best and NCAA Regional qualifying time of 13.75 in the 100-meter hurdles, good for second-place at the Mark Faldmo Invitational in Logan, Utah, logging the sixth-best time in Aggie history.
Other Field nominees included: Sharon Ayala of Fresno State won the hammer throw at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., breaking the Bulldog school record and registering a WAC-best and NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 203’ 4” (61.98m) ... Annett Wichmann of Hawai?i earned an NCAA Regional qualifying standard in the heptathlon, finishing fourth at the Mt. SAC Multi Events in Walnut, Calif., setting two Rainbow Wahine school records in the long jump (18’ 10.5”/5.75m) and the 800-meter run (2:18.80) ... Melinda Owen of Idaho won the pole vault at the Mt. SAC Relays with a season-best and WAC-leading clearance of 13’ 1.5”, earning an NCAA Regional qualifying mark and placing her eighth in the West Region and 18th in the NCAA in the event ...Quatisha Williams of Louisiana Tech finished fifth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump at the John McDonnell Invitational with leaps of 19’ 0.5” and 39’ 1”, respectively ...Constance McAlman of Nevada recorded a personal-best and NCAA Regional qualifying mark in the discus with a launch of 155’ 8” (47.45m), placing eighth at the Long Beach Invitational and also took second in the hammer throw at the Mt. SAC Relays with a personal-best distance of 182’ 2” (55.52m) ... Randi Grimes of New Mexico State recorded a recorded a personal-best and NCAA Regional qualifying standard in the hammer throw with a launch of 179’ 1” (54.58m) at the Ram Open in Fort Collins, Colo. ... Sonia Grabowska of Utah State cleared an NCAA Regional qualifying height of 12’ 7.5” in the pole vault, placing second at the Mark Faldmo Invitational, and earning the third-best spot in Aggie history.
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