DENVER - Missouri-Kansas City's Veronica Rollins and UT Rio Grande Valley's Kerissa Wiley have been named Western Athletic Conference Track & Field Athletes of the week, respectively, for Feb 8-14.
Rollins, a senior from Kansas City, Mo. (Lee's Summit North HS) is moving up the UMKC records to third-place all time in the event, Rollins one-upped herself by resetting her personal-best with a time of 2:14.45 seconds, scratching more than a second off her previous best. The time moved her into second-place in the ‘Roos record books, and first in the WAC this season.
Wiley, a junior from Markham, TX (Tidehaven High School) set a new program record in the high jump at the Howie Ryan Invitational, after clearing a height of 1.70 meters, which is also currently the best in the WAC. She broke a record that was shared by Melinda Sarmiento (2010) and Valerie Partch (2001). Wiley finished in third place after they tiebreakers as she finished tied with Texas State's Chelsie Decoud and five-time Olympian Amy Acuff.
Other track nominees: Chicago State's Zhaté Jackson won her second consecutive title in the 400-meter dash after finishing first in the event at the Chicagoland Championships with a time of 58.30, which places her sixth in the WAC. She also finished second in the 200-meter dash after crossing the finish line at 25.62 and that time now ranks her second in the WAC in the event. Grand Canyon's Briana Myers won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.64, which tied her collegiate best set last year. After conversion, Myers' time is No. 1 in the WAC for the 60m hurdles. In addition to the hurdles, Myers ran the 60 meters where she placed third with a time of 7.78, on hundredth of a second of her personal best from a year ago. Her time is the No. 8 mark in the WAC this season. NM State's Katara Nelson won the 200m Dash with a time of 24.85, which was her best performance in the event this season. She currently leads the WAC in this event. She also was part of the team that finished third in the 4x400 Relay with a time of 3:58.22. The Aggies are currently third in the conference in this event. Seattle U's Elena Smith set a personal record in the 3,000m run with a time of 10:10.92, putting her in fifth place in the WAC. UT Rio Grande Valley's Jennifer Zapata posted a career-best time of 10:28.94 in the 3,000-meter run at the Howie Ryan Invitational where she finished in third place. She also teamed with Teresa Sova, Roxanna Vidaurri and Felicia Wills to finish in second place in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:30.35, which ranks third fastest in program history.
Other field nominees: Grand Canyon's Tarasue Barnett's mark of 14.88 meters broke her previous school record that she set two weeks ago at the Mountain T's Invitational by 1 cm. Barnett's record-breaking put came on her final attempt of the competition and launched her from second place to the top spot. Barnett's throw is the best mark in the WAC. Missouri-Kansas City's Traci Mills set a season-best in the long jump, placing fourth with a leap of 5.59 meters. Seattle U's Mariah Gibbs jumped a distance of 11.28 meters in the triple jump, which should put her at 10th in the WAC.