THIS WEEK
Fresno State begins the season by hosting the Run for the Dream on Friday. New Mexico State and Utah State travel to Albuquerque, N.M. for the Cherry and Silver Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Hawai’i hosts Sunset Meet #1 on Saturday. Idaho and Nevada travel to the Bronco Invitational in Nampa, Idaho on Saturday.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Verizon WAC Women’s Athletes of the Week
Utah State’s Chari Hawkins and Idaho’s Kristine Leonard were named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Jan. 9-15.
Hawkins, a sophomore from Rexburg, Idaho (Madison HS), won two titles at the Snake River Open in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday. She won Utah State’s lone running event by taking the title in the 60-meter hurdles, breaking the tape in 8.40, the second-fastest time in the WAC this season. She also won the long jump with a leap of 18-7.25 (5.67m).
Leonard, a junior from Rathdrum, Idaho (Concordia University), won the indoor discuss event, came in second in two more events and posted two personal bests last weekend at the WSU Open in Pullman, Wash.. She won the indoor discus throw with a career-best score of 154-8 (47.14m) on Friday. She followed that up with a runner-up finish in the weight throw later in the day with a personal record toss of 52-0.5 (15.86m), besting her previous career high by four feet. She finished her weekend with a second runner-up finish on Saturday in the shot put with a toss of 44-0.5 (13.42m).
Other track nominees included: Idaho junior Liga Velvere … Nevada junior Angelica Earls … New Mexico State junior Courtney Schultz.
Other field nominees included: Hawai’i senior TeRina Keenan ... Nevada junior Deborah Amoah … New Mexico State senior Bellosie Frazier … Utah State senior Sonia Grabowska.
Verizon WAC Men’s Athletes of the Week
Idaho’s Ben Ayesu-Attah and Jeremy Klas were named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Jan. 9-15.
Ayesu-Attah, a freshman from Coquitlam, British Columbia (Heritage Woods High School), opened his Idaho career on Saturday with a win and a meet record in the men’s 400-meters at the WSU Open. He posted a 49.75 in the event to break the eight-year-old meet record of 49.88. Once converted for track size, his time of 49.15 is the fastest in the WAC so far this season.
Klas, a senior from Moscow, Idaho (Moscow HS), opened his season on Saturday with the eighth-best vault in the nation on Saturday. Klas broke his own meet record with a vault of 17-4.5 (5.30m) and won the competition by nearly one foot overall. He was nearly two feet better than the next-best collegiate vaulter at the meet. The vault is his best season-opening height of his career.
Other track nominees included: Utah State sophomore AJ Boully.
Other field nominees included: Utah State sophomore Bryce Hall.
TEAM RECAPS
Fresno State
Fresno State will kick off the indoor season by hosting the Run for the Dream meet at the Save Mart Center on Friday ... FSU has several top returnees coming back this 2012 indoor track and field season ... sophomore Meagan McKee took first in the women’s weight throw at the WAC Championships, giving the Bulldogs the first gold medal of the meet in 2011 ... senior Latrisha Jordan finished third in WAC Championship in the women’s 400-meters ... junior Breeauna Thompson finished third in the 200-meters at the WAC Championships.
Hawai‘i
The Rainbow Wahine travelled to Seattle, Wash. to compete at the UW Preview on Saturday, kicking off the 2012 season ... junior Ashlee Jimenez set a new school record in the 600-meters, finishing the race in 1:38.57 ... senior TeRina Keenan tied for the top collegiate mark in the shot put competition with a throw of 47-9 (14.55m) ... senior Madara Apine was the top collegiate finisher in the triple jump after clearing 39-7.75 (12.08m) ... this week, Hawai’i returns to the islands to host the first of three Sunset Meets during the indoor season, on Saturday.
Idaho
Idaho opened at the WSU Indoor Preview on Friday and Saturday ... the Vandals grabbed six individual victories, highlighted by senior Jeremy Klas and his NCAA top-10 height of 17-4.5 (5.30m) in the pole vault ... freshman Ben Ayesu-Attah posted a 49.75 in the men’s 400-meters, breaking the previous meet record which had stood for eight years ... junior Liga Velvere rolled to a win in the women’s 400-meters with a WAC-best time of 56.23 ... sophomore Kelly Jacka set a meet-record of 25.39 in winning the women’s 200-meters ... junior Keli Hall won her first career race, claiming the 600-meters in 1:37.33 ... this week, Idaho will send a small group of competitors to Nampa, Idaho, for the Bronco Invitational on Saturday.
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech began the season at the UAB Blazer Invite, in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday ... all-American Chelsea Hayes captured the 60-meters and the 200-meters to highlight a total of five individual winners on the women’s side ... she won the 60-meters with a time of 7.41 (course record) and captured the 200-meters with a mark of 24.19 (course record) ... senior Alwayne Green was the Bulldogs top individual performer, as he placed second in the 800-meters with a time of 1:54.87 ... Jermaine Morris placed sixth in the event with a time of 1:56.77 ... this week, Louisiana Tech is off, before competing in Birmingham again, this time at the Birmingham Invitational on Jan. 26.
Nevada
Nevada competed at the Blue and Orange Opener in Nampa, Idaho, on Saturday ... junior Deborah Amoah, won the triple jump competition with a mark of 11.97-meters (39’3.25”) ... she also placed fifth (8.83) in the 60-meter hurdles, despite it being only the second time she had competed in that event ... her mark was the eighth-best in school history ... junior Angelica Earls set a new school record in the 60-meters with her preliminary-round run of 7.59 ... she placed fifth against a field that included two of the top five times in the nation this year ... this week, the Wolf Pack will return to Nampa for the Bronco Invitational.
New Mexico State
New Mexico State opened in its first meet of the season at the Texas Tech Invite last Saturday ... the Aggies claimed three first place finishes ... junior Courtney Schultz finished first in the 1-mile run with a time of 5:06.90 and finished second in the 1,000-meters with a time of 2:55.39 ... senior Melanie Clay finished first in the 800-meters with a time of 2:21.18 ... junior Deserae Cota captured first place in the triple jump with a distance of 11.04m ... NM State earned 11 top-five finishes in events throughout the weekend ... this week, the Aggies will compete at the Cherry and Silver Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
Utah State
Utah State competed at the Snake River Invitational last weekend, collecting eight wins, including seven field events, on the way to 21 top three finishes ... sophomore Chari Hawkins won the Aggies’ lone running event, taking the title in the 60-meter hurdles, and also won the long jump with a leap ... sophomore Bryce Hall won the weight throw with a distance of 58-6.00 (17.84m), which puts him at No. 10 in Utah State history ... sophomore AJ Boully placed second in the 200-meters with a time of 22.26 ... senior Sonia Grabowska won the pole vault with a WAC-leading mark of 12-5.50 (3.80m) ... this week, the Aggies will compete at the Cherry and Silver Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.