DENVER - UT Rio Grande Valley's Teresa Sova and Grand Canyon's Sasha-Gaye Marston have been named Western Athletic Conference Track & Field Athletes of the week, respectively, for Jan. 11-17.
Sova, a sophomore from Mercedes, Texas (Mercedes HS) went on to win the 5,000-meter run at the Aggie Team Invitational after finishing with a time of 18:12.81. Her career-best time in the 5,000-meter also went on to set a new meet record. Sova is currently in first place in the WAC standings.
Marston, a junior from Clarendon, Jamaica (Edwin Allen) placed 7th in the weight throw and 9th in the shot put. Her marks currently rank first in the conference in the weight throw and second in the shot put.
Other track nominees: Grand Canyon's Alexandra Gilbert recorded the fastest time in the WAC in the 400m and the fourth fastest time in the 60m. Missouri-Kansas City's Kelly Carpenter took first-place in the 5,000-meter run at the Holiday Inn Invitational, the UMKC women's only first-place finish of the meet. Carpenter notched a time of 18:31.59 to beat the next-closest runner by nearly 16 seconds. This is only the second time she has taken first in an event in her collegiate career, and first in an indoor competition, after winning the gold in the 5,000 meters at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic in 2014. NM State's Katara Nelsonfinished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.24. She currently leads the conference with this mark in this event. In the 60-meter she finished sixth with a time of 7.83. She is currently fifth in the conference in this event. Seattle U's Alisa Poplawski came in first place in her heat and finished 13th out of 31 overall in the 600 with a time of 1:39.34.
Other field nominees: Missouri-Kansas City's Veronica Rollins placed sixth in the high jump competition at the Holiday Inn Invitational with a career-best mark of 1.55 meters. Rollins, who normally impresses on the oval, competed in the high jump for the first time since the 2014 WAC Outdoor Championships, looked like she never missed a beat, finishing in one of the highest spots for the UMKC women in field events. NM State's La'Shava Colefinished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 5.53m. She is currently second in the conference in this event. In the Triple Jump, Cole finished third with a mark of 11.72m. She is currently second in the conference in this event as well. UT Rio Grande Valley's Alyssa Canul finished third in the weight throw after hitting a mark of 15.76 meters, which marked a new career-best. She surpassed her previous best by almost two meters. Seattle U's Mandie Maddux set the school indoor record in the shot put with a throw of 11.75m (38'-6.75â€), a title she previously shared (set in 2015) with a 2006 student-athlete. Maddux also set an indoor personal record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.52. She also cleared 1.6m (5'-3â€) in the high jump, which is just .04m short of her personal record.