United Athletic Conference

California Baptist's Giedrius Valincius and UT Rio Grande Valley's Harry Barthelemy have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for March 8 through March 14.

 

Valincius, a sophomore from Kalvarija, Lithuania, took first in the 5000m run at Friday's Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. His time of 14:10.43 was more than second faster than any other runner and  is the third fastest in CBU program history and the fastest mark in the Division I era.

 

Barthelemy, a junior from Bradenton, Fla., continued a strong season of jumping, winning the high jump at the Rice Invitational after clearing 2.02m (6-7.5). He ranks ninth in NCAA Division I in the event this season. He was also part of UTRGV's 4x400m relay team that finished fifth with a time of 3:29.52.

 

Other track nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Tristan Pena won the 1500m run at the Rice Invitational with a time of 3:55.64.

 

Other field nominees: Seattle U's Xavier Kelley took fifth in the long jump (6.05m) and fourth in the triple jump (13.11m) at the Oregon State PNW Team Clash.

 

UT Rio Grande Valley's Josefine Eriksen and Idatonye Cheetham-West has been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for March 8 through March 14.

 

Eriksen, a freshman from Stavern, Norway, won the 800m run at the Rice Invitational and was also a part of the winning 4x400m relay. In the 800m run, she finished the two-lap race in a time of 2:10.78, which is the sixth-fastest time in NCAA Division I this season. UTRGV's 4x400m relay team, in which Eriksen runs third, won the event with a time of 3:50.65.

 

Cheetham-West, a senior from Kingwood, Texas, won the long jump at the Rice Invitational with a mark of 6.24, which is the second-best in the NCAA Division I this season. She also took 11th in the 200m dash (26.38) and was a member of UTRGV's second 4x400m team.

 

Other track nominees: California Baptist's Anna Mate took third in the 5000m run at the Ben Brown Invitational, posting a time of 16:49.18 … Seattle U's Tricht Jocelyn won both the 100m and 200m dashes with times of 12.24 and 25.45 respectively at the Oregon State PNW Team Clash.

 

Other field nominees: Seattle U's Morgan Young broke into SU's top ten in both the long jump and triple jump at the Oregon State PNW Team Clash.

 

Although several teams have already started the outdoor season, this weekend is the first big weekend of the season, with several schools in action. Tarleton opens up its Division I era at future WAC member Abilene Christian, participating in the Wes Kittley Invitational. UT Rio Grande Valley, who have already had strong showings at the Longhorn Invitational and Rice Invitational, head to San Antonio for the UTSA Invitational. Utah Valley travels to Las Vegas for the third time this season for the UNLV Spring Invitational. Grand Canyon and NM State will both be a the Willie Williams Invitational in Tucson while Seattle U stays in the Emerald City for the Doris Heritage Invitational, hosted by Seattle Pacific.

 

The USTFCCCA are expected to release the first national rankings on March 23 and the first regional rankings on April 5.

 

The 2021 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are headed to Edinburg, Texas as UT Rio Grande Valley will serve as the host after last year's championships were canceled due to the pandemic. This year's meet is set for May 13-15.

 

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its 2020 All-Academic Teams for the 2020 season and seven different WAC schools were honored.

 

Among those teams that received the award, both the men's and women's programs from California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Utah Valley were honored. The women's programs from NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley also earned recognition. In addition, WAC newcomer Tarleton was also honored at the Division II level with the Texans' men's team garnering the award.

 

For the second consecutive year, the CBU women's team claimed the highest grade-point average among WAC teams, posting a 3.726 cumulative GPA.

 

In total, 264 different women's programs and 199 different men's programs were honored across Division I.

 

Several individual student-athletes were also honored, earning All-Academic honors by holding a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA and either finishing the season ranked in the top 96 nationally or in the top 48 in any championship relay event during the most recent indoor season.

 

The Grand Canyon, Tarleton and Utah Valley men's teams each had one honoree as Grant Carpenter represented the Lopes, Larry Still earned recognition for the Wolverines, and Colton Troutman was honored for the Texans.

 

On the women's side, GCU had three representatives while two members of the Tarleton State team were recognized. The Lopes' Madelyn Lundberg, Alyson Schwartz and Niki Xydona earned the honor while Jasmine McQuirter and Kylee Ponder represented Tarleton.

 

Across Division I, 452 men and 659 women received honors.