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Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week
Men
Grand Canyon's Aaron Thurber and Missouri-Kansas City's Blake Hocking have been named Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Athletes of the week, respectively, for Jan. 11-17.
Thurber, a senior from Phoenix, (Willow Canyon) placed third in the 60m with a time that ranks second in the WAC and placed fourth in the 200m with a time that is the fastest in the WAC so far this year.
Hocking, a senior from Lawrence, Kansas (Lawrence HS) placed first in the shot put at the Holiday Inn Invitational, despite not having his best stuff. Hocking's best mark at the meet (16.03 meters) was over a meter short of a personal-record, yet was better than the 18 other competitors in the event, showing how important the senior will be to the success of the ‘Roos men this season.
Other track nominees: Missouri-Kansas City's Jason Shaw notched a new personal-record in the 600 meters at the Holiday Inn Invitational. Placing 16th-overall with a time of 1:23.74, he shaved nearly three seconds off his previous-best time, one of the best improvements on a PR for the UMKC men at the meet. Shaw also helped the distance medley relay team to a ninth-place finish. Seattle U's Gus Arroyo broke his personal record in this event with a time of 8:26.96, which was also extremely close to breaking the school indoor record of 8:21.63, set by Erik Barkhaus in 2012. He now holds the second-fastest time in school history in this indoor event. UT Rio Grande Valley's Jose Juan Wells finished in fourth place in the 5,000-meter run at the Aggie Team Invitational after posting a time of 15:18.97, which ranks fifth in program history.
Other field nominees: Grand Canyon's Scott Marshall placed second in the men's pole vault with a mark of 5.10m which currently leads the WAC. Additionally, Marshall's mark tied the Vince Frawley's Grand Canyon school record, set in 2012. Seattle U's Devon Walker broke the school indoor record (last set in 2013) in this event with a toss of 14.61m (47'-11.25â€). UT Rio Grande Valley's Javier Carretero finished in second place in the weight throw at the Aggie Invitational after a throw of 16.19 meters. Carretero was just one of three throwers to surpass the 16-meter mark as he finished less than a meter behind first place.
Women
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.
WAC Championships
The 2016 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships are held in Nampa, Idaho from Feb. 25-27. The Utah Valley men and Grand Canyon women will be looking to repeat titles from last year.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2016 Indoor Track and Field National Championships will be hosted by Samford and take place in Birmingham, Ala. from March 11-12.
March 11-12, 2016
Host: Samford
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Facility: Birmingham Crossplex