DENVER - Utah Valley's Nicholas Taylor and Chicago State's Kory Jackson have been named Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Athletes of the week, respectively, for Jan. 4-10.
Taylor, a senior from Pearland, Texas (Clear Brook HS) neared the 60m-dash school record in the contest at BYU with a speedy time of 6.72 seconds, a personal record for the senior.
Jackson, a senior from Blue Island, Ill. (Eisenhower) earned his second consecutive second-place finish of the indoor season as he placed second at the Lewis Open after recording a jump of 23-03.50 (7.10 meters).
Other track nominees: Chicago State's DiJon Smith claimed his first event title of the season as he won the 1,000-meter run at the Lewis University Open in helping the Cougars finish third in the team standings. He crossed the finish line at a time of 2:52.11and later helped the CSU Distance Medley Relay team finish first with a time of 10:57.77. Missouri-Kansas City's Jason Fambrough competed in his first meet of the 2016 indoor season at the Bill Easton Classic in Lawrence, Kansas, where he ran the mile for the first time in his career. The Raymore, Missouri native did not disappoint in the race, placing second with a time of 4:26.24.
Other field nominees: Missouri-Kansas City's Blake Hocking picked up where he left off the 2015 season, by placing first in shot at the Bill Easton Classic in his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. The senior's winning mark of 15.59 meters was well short of a career-best, but good enough to win the competition. He also competed in the weight throw, where he placed sixth with a mark of 12.60 meters. Utah Valley's Daven Russell broke his own school record in the shot put with a mark of 16.24m and third place at the meet.