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 April 9-15:
Men's Track Athlete of the Week
Riley Kelly, UCLA
Sophomore
Brisbane, Australia
Kelly set a new personal-best in the 800-meter run (1:49.41) en route to a third-place finish at UCLA's Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational. That mark ranks fourth-best in the Pac-12, 17th-best in the West Region and 37th nationally.
ALSO NOMINATED: Duane McClurkin Jr., COLORADO.
Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Mesa Weidle, UTAH
Senior
Rock Springs, Wyo.
Weidle posted a season-best 400-meter dash time of 57.28 seconds to place second at the Mark Faldmo Invitational. The time was the best 400 by a Pac-12 runner over the weekend and ranks 23rd in the league this season. It marks the second Pac-12 weekly honor for a Utah athlete this season following Grayson Murphy's award on April 3.
ALSO NOMINATED: Rajon O'Quinn, COLORADO.
Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Jordan Geist, ARIZONA
Freshman
Saxonburg, Pa.
Geist, who repeats as Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Week, set an outdoor personal-best in the shot put with a mark of 20.04 meters (65-9) to finish as the top collegian and fourth overall in a field of Olympians and professionals at Triton Invitational in San Diego. The throw moved Geist into the top spot in the Pac-12 and West Region and No. 3 mark overall in the NCAA so far this season.
ALSO NOMINATED: Gunner Rigsby, COLORADO; Marian Spannowsky, UCLA; Nathan Bultman, USC.
Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Lena Giger, STANFORD
Senior
Highland, Ill.
Giger climbed to No. 2 on the national collegiate list with a personal-best shot put throw of 18.09 meters (59-4.25) in the invitational section of the Triton Invitational in San Diego. Giger's effort moved the Pac-12 into the top three spots on the NCAA event leaderboard so far this season - Maggie Ewen, ASU; Giger; Ashlie Blake, UCLA. The throw also moved her into eighth on the Pac-12 all-time top 10 list. It is Giger's second carer Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week honor after earning her first accolade last April 25.
ALSO NOMINATED: Elisa Grandemange, COLORADO; Alyssa Wilson, UCLA.
Pac-12 in the USTFCCCA National Rankings (April 16)
Men's Top 25: #6 Oregon, #7 USC, #24 Stanford
Stanford climbed one spot while Oregon and USC stayed in place in the third week of rankings.
Women's Top 25: #4 Oregon, #6 USC, #10 Stanford, #13 Arizona State, #16 Colorado
Stanford joined Oregon and USC in the top 10 while ASU and Colorado remained steady as the Pac-12's five teams continue to rank second-best nationally.
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