DENVER - Utah Valley's Maria Blad and Chantil Martin have been named Western Athletic Conference Track & Field Athletes of the week, respectively, for Nov. 30-Dec 6.
Blad, a sophomore from Enumclaw, Wash. (Enumclaw HS) broke the school record in this event in her first indoor performance of her sophomore year running the 55m hurdles in 8.13 seconds at the Winter Wildcat Open.
Martin, a junior from Eden Utah, (Weber State) finished in second place in the weight throw with a throw of 16.05 at the Winter Wildcat Open.
Other track nominees: Chicago State's Zensha Tennyson posted a personal-best time of 7.80 in the finals of the 60-meter dash as she captured third place. Missouri-Kansas City's Genel Rollins ran a 7.78 second 60 meters to place sixth at the Bob Timmons Challenge. Her personal-best time is 7.66 seconds, which she set last year at the WAC Indoor Championships, so to be that close to the time this early in the season is a very promising sign for things to come.
Other field nominees: Chicago State's Arieta Vaimaona posted an eighth-place finish in the shot put as she recorded a personal-best toss of 37'11.25†(11.56 meters). With a personal-best of 14.05 meters in the shot, Missouri-Kansas City's Kelsey Benoit has already came close to that mark this season, placing third in the Bob Timmons Challenge with a throw of 13.75 meters. Her 15.35-meter heave in the weight throw placed her fourth at the meet and a starting point to work from going forward this season.