DENVER - Grand Canyon's Ryan Girk and Jesse Newman have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Track & Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for April 9-15.
Girk, a senior from Phoenix, won both events he competed in this past weekend at the UCSD Triton Invite. His first event was the 100-meter dash where he crossed the finish line in 10.49 for a WAC best time and ranks him 39th in the west region. Girk then competed in the 200-meter dash with another WAC best time of 20.99. He is now tied in the national rankings at 65 as he outran 17 competitors.
Newman, a sophomore from Aloha, Ore., placed second out of 13 competitors in the javelin throw event at the UCSD Triton Invite this past weekend. His mark of 64.93 meters was good enough to be the top in the WAC, set a new school record and ranks him 50th in the nation.
Other track nominees: Chicago State's Ricordo McKenzie outran 66 opponents to win the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.62 before he outran 52 athletes to win the 200-meter dash crossing the finish line in 21.54… Kansas City's Darrien Case placed fourth out of 58 competitors in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:02.05… UT Rio Grande Valley's Yariel Matute placed second in the 200-meter dash finishing with a time of 21.23 and joined relay teams to compete in the 4x100 relay (42.41) and win the 4x200 relay (47.48).
Other field nominees: Chicago State's Donnie Hawkins out jumped 54 competitors with a personal best of 7.02 meters in the long jump… Kansas City's Carter Grissom placed third in the javelin throw event with a mark of 61.83 ranking him 85th in the nation… UT Rio Grande Valley's Paul May ranks 72nd in the nation in shot put for a new school record of 17.51 meters before he competed in the discus throw (48.20) and hammer throw (48.39)… Utah Valley's Daven Russell placed second in the hammer throw (54.78), third in the shot put (16.62) and fourth in the discus (48.30).