Pac-12 announces outdoor track & field athletes of the week

The Pac-12 Conference outdoor track and field athlete of the week honors for the week of March 18-24:

Men's Track Athlete of the Week
Cravon Gillespie, Oregon
Senior
Pasadena, Calif.

Gillespie opened his outdoor season with an NCAA-leading effort in the 100-meter dash at the SDSU Aztec Invitational, clocking in at a wind-aided 10.04 seconds (+2.2), just two hundredths of a second off his all-conditions best at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Based on times entering the weekend, the mark also ranks third in the world under all conditions. Gillespie was a double winner at the Aztec Invite, running the second leg of the victorious 4x100 relay which finished in 39.33, fourth-best in both the NCAA this season and the Oregon records book.

ALSO NOMINATED: Duane McClurkin Jr., COLORADO; Isaiah Jewett, USC.

Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Alyssa Brewer, USC
Freshman
Miami, Fla.

Brewer won a loaded women's 800-meter run at the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge in Miami, Fla., with a personal-best and NCAA-leading time of 2:04.93. The top three times in the country were run in the race with Brewer edging Ohio State's Julia Rizk (2:05.56) and teammate Jemima Russell (2:06.09). Brewer moved into seventh on USC's all-time 800 list and posted the fastest time by a Trojan in the event since 2001. The biological sciences major also anchored USC's 4x400m relay which had a season-best time of 3:39.71, good for 12th in the country.

ALSO NOMINATED: Karolina Pahlitzsch, ARIZONA; Eriana Henderson, COLORADO.

Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Matthew Katnik, USC
R-Junior
Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.

Katnik repeats as Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Week after extending his NCAA lead in the shot put en route to an event victory at the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge in Miami. Katnik, who threw 19.46 meters (63-10.25) the week prior, unleashed a personal-best toss of 19.67 meters (64-6.50) to win the Challenge event by more than a foot and a half. His mark moved the business administration major from seventh to fifth on USC's all-time list and was the farthest by a Trojan since Noah Bryant set the school record in 2007. Katnik is one of only two NCAA athletes to break 64 feet this season.

ALSO NOMINATED: Justice Summerset, ARIZONA; Nate Esparza, UCLA; Brock Eager, WASHINGTON STATE.

Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Beatrice Llano, Arizona State
R-Sophomore
Bergen, Norway

Also named the USTFCCCA Division I National Athlete of the Week, Llano made a splash in her 2019 outdoor debut by launching the seventh-best hammer throw in NCAA history and second-best in Pac-12 history at the ASU Invitational on Friday. Llano's mark of 71.43 meters (234-4) broke the Norwegian record and qualified the redshirt sophomore for the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Only former Sun Devils' teammate and two-time Bowerman finalist Maggie Ewen has recorded a farther hammer throw in Conference history than the interdisciplinary studies major.

ALSO NOMINATED: Alyssa Wilson, UCLA; Isabella Marten, USC; Kolbi Sims, UTAH; Molly Scharmann, WASHINGTON STATE.

Pac-12 in the USTFCCCA National Rankings (March 18)

Men's Top 25: #7 Oregon, #15 Arizona, #16 Stanford, #17 UCLA

The Pac-12's four men's top 25 teams is tied for the second-most nationally, trailing only the SEC's 10. 

Women's Top 25: #1 USC, #5 Oregon, #9 Colorado, #11 Stanford, #20 Washington, #22 UCLA

The reigning NCAA outdoor champion and indoor runner-up Trojans top the preseason rating index, leading a pack of six Pac-12 programs in the top 25 - the second-most nationally behind only the SEC's eight.

Pac-12 USTFCCCA National Athletes of the Week

Mackenzie Little, STANFORD - March 19
Beatrice Llano, ARIZONA STATE - March 26

Pac-12 on The Bowerman Watch List

Men's Post-Indoor: Grant Fisher, STANFORD.

Women's Post-Indoor: Jessica Hull, OREGON; Mackenzie Little, STANFORD; Chanel Brissett, USC; Kaelin Roberts, USC; Olivia Gruver, WASHINGTON.

2019 Pac-12 Track & Field Athletes of the Week