Pac-12 announces outdoor track & field athletes of the week
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Pac-12 Conference outdoor track and field athlete of the week honors for the opening week of the outdoor campaign:
Men’s Track Athlete of the Week: BEEJAY LEE, USC (Sr., West Covina, Calif.). Senior BeeJay Lee won the 200-meter race at the Trojan Invitational in a personal-best and nation-leading time of 20.51. He also ran the first leg in USC’s winning 4x100m relay, which ran an NCAA-leading time of 39.74. Also nominated: Pete Lauderdale II, ARIZONA; Johnathan Ste-vens, WASHINGTON.
Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: AMALIE IUEL, USC (So., Oslo, Norway). Sophomore Amalie Iuel placed second in the Trojan Invitational 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a personal-best of nearly two seconds with a time of 56.32. She nearly ran down 2012 silver medalist Lashinda Demus (56.23) at the wire. That time is more than three seconds faster than any collegian had run this early in the season and would have placed her fourth in the 2014 NCAA final. She also moved up to fourth on USC’s all-time list in the event. The heptathlete also posted a personal-best in the 100m high hur-dles with a time of 14.00, beating her previous best by .36 seconds. Also nominated: Jasper Gray, ARIZONA; Kerissa D’Arpino, OREGON STATE; Sarah Feeny, UTAH. Gianna Woodruff, WASHINGTON
Men’s Field Athlete of the Week: JAX THOIRS, WASHINGTON (Jr., Glasgow, Scottland). Coming off a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, junior Jax Thoirs opened his outdoor season with a win at the Baldy Castillo Invite in Tempe, Ariz. He cleared 17-4.50 for the victory with a mark that is now tied for the No. 1 mark in the country. Also Nomi-nated: Aaron Castle, ARIZONA; Sam Crouser, OREGON; Randall Cunningham, USC.
Women’s Field Athlete of the Week: TERA NOVY, USC (Jr., Montesano, Wash.). Junior Tera Novy set personal records in both the discus and shot put during the Trojan Invitational. She won the discus with a toss of 186-0, the top mark in the country this season and the third-best mark all-time at USC. She took second in the shot put with a best of 50-0.50, which now ranks her seventh all-time at USC. Also Nominated: Alyssa Thompson, ARIZONA; Melissa Ausman, OREGON STATE; Megan Glasmann, UTAH; Kristina Owsinski, WASHINGTON.
2015 Pac-12 Track & Field Athletes of the Week
Men’s Track: March 24 – BeeJay Lee, USC.
Women’s Track: March 24 – Amalie Iuel, USC.
Men’s Field: March 24 – Jax Thoirs, WASH.
Women’s Field: March 24 – Tera Novy, USC.