DENVER - Louisiana Tech's Chelsea Hayes and Utah State's Sonia Grabowska were named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Jan. 17-23.
Hayes, a senior from New Orleans, La. (Butler County CC), had a dominating performance at the Arkansas State Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark., on Jan. 22. Hayes claimed titles in the 55-meter dash, 200-meter dash and the long jump all in the same day. Hayes set a school record in the prelims of the 55m dash, running 6.94 before topping that mark in the finals with a time of 6.92. Her converted time from the 55m to the 60m is 7.44, which ranks her first in the WAC. She claimed the 200m title with a WAC-best time of 24.80. Not only did she get the job done in the sprints, she also claimed a title in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 7 inches (5.97m), which was just shy of her current top measurement in the WAC (19' 8.75")
Grabowska, a junior from Warsaw, Poland (VIII Lo Wtadystaw IV), set the new benchmark for the WAC in the Pole Vault at the Cougar Invitational on Jan. 22 in Pullman, Wash. She cleared 13 feet, 3.75 inches (4.06m) in her attempt, giving her the pole vault title and claim to the best vault in the WAC. Grabowska's vault is more than eight inches better than the second-best WAC vault this season.
Other track nominees included: Destiny Gammage, Boise State; Hannah Kiser, Idaho; Chelsea Hayes, Louisiana Tech; Angelica Earls, Nevada Katelyn Heiner, Utah State
Other field nominees included: Mele Vaisima, Boise State; Gabby Midles, Idaho; Micarra Vassell, Louisiana Tech; La Tijera Avery, Nevada; Zoe Meade, New Mexico State; Chari Hawkins, Utah State