DENVER – Louisiana Tech’s Billy Ray Walker and Idaho’s Jeremy Klas were named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of January 11-17.
Walker, a junior from Lancaster, Texas (Abilene Christian) dominated the 60m hurdles at two separate meets over the weekend, winning a challenging Texas A&M Invitational title after finishing second at the Leonard Hamilton Invitational the day before. On Friday, Jan. 15, Walker’s time of 7.97 seconds was the second-fastest among the preliminary heats before his time of 7.94 (currently the fastest time of any WAC runner throughout the young 2010 season) placed second overall and first among collegiate competitors. The following day at the Texas A&M Invitational, Walker ran 8.11 in the prelims before his time of 8.08 in the finals beat out two of Oklahoma’s top hurdlers to take the title.
Klas, a sophomore from Moscow, Idaho (Moscow HS), won the men’s pole vault at the Washington State Open and etched his name in Vandal history in the process. Klas joined teammates Lucas Pope and Mike Carpenter in breaking a 25-year-old school record. Klas cleared 5.10m (16-8.75) on his very first try, ultimately beating out his teammates based on attempts. The vault also puts Klas in a tie for 16th in the nation and first in the WAC in the event. The school pole vault record was the second-oldest standing record in the Idaho record book.
Other track nominees included: Idaho’s Sam Michener and Utah State’s Dylan Nielson.
Other field nominee: Utah State’s Daniel Cruz.
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