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 12-18:

Men's Track Athlete of the Week
Ricky Morgan Jr., USC
Senior
Woodbridge, Va.

Morgan won the 200-meter dash at USC's season-opening Trojan Invitational with a time of 20.92 seconds (+1.6), which is the fourth-fastest wind-legal time in the country early in the 2018 outdoor campaign.

ALSO NOMINATED: Zakee Washington, ARIZONA.

Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Karolina Pahlitzsch, Arizona
Senior
Berlin, Germany

Pahlitzsch posted the second-best mark in the nation to date in the 800-meter run, winning Arizona's Willie Williams Classic with a time of 2:08.27. The transfer from Nebraska also ran the second leg of the Wildcats' victorious 4x400 meter relay, which registered the top mark in the Pac-12 and No. 4 time in the NCAA so far this season (3:39.29).

ALSO NOMINATED: Alethia Marrero, ARIZONA STATE; Gabby Scott, COLORADO; Ashlan Best, STANFORD; Chanel Brissett, USC; Hanna Tarleton, WASHINGTON.

Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Brock Eager, Washington State
R-Junior
Renton, Wash.

Eager, the defending Pac-12 hammer champion, opened his 2018 outdoor season with a throw of 66.50 meters (218-2) to win the hammer at the USC Trojan Invitational. Eager's mark currently leads the Pac-12 and is fifth-best in NCAA Division I.

ALSO NOMINATED: Jordan Geist, ARIZONA; Elijah Hughes, ARIZONA STATE; Iffy Joyner, CALIFORNIA; Trevor Danielson, STANFORD; Earnest Sears, USC; Chase Smith, WASHINGTON.

Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Isabella Marten, California
R-Junior
Stuttgart, Germany

After missing last season due to injury, the 2016 Pac-12 triple jump champion opened the 2018 outdoor season with a mark of 12.67 meters (41-7) in the event, capturing first place at Sacramento State's Hornet Invitational and recording the third-best mark in the country so far this season.

ALSO NOMINATED: Aleah Hurst, ARIZONA; Elisa Grandemange, COLORADO; Destiny Dawson, OREGON STATE; Virginia Miller, STANFORD; Breana Jemison, USC.

Pac-12 in the USTFCCCA National Rankings (March 20)

Men's Top 25: #1 Oregon, #7 USC, #17 Stanford, #21 UCLA

The men of Oregon narrowly edged Texas A&M and Houston in the preseason ranking, leaving the Ducks as the favorite to protect their home facility advantage when they host the NCAA Championships June 6-9 at historic Hayward Field. 

Women's Top 25: #2 Oregon, #4 USC, #10 Stanford, #14 Arizona State, #15 Colorado

The reigning outdoor national champion Oregon Ducks lead an impressive pack of five Pac-12 teams in the preseason top 15. The five teams are the second-most of any conference in the nation.

Pac-12 on The Bowerman Watch List

Men's Post-Indoor: Rai Benjamin, USC; Michael Norman, USC.

Women's Post-Indoor: Kendall Ellis, USC; Maggie Ewen, ARIZONA STATE.

2018 Pac-12 Track & Field Athletes of the Week