Jan. 27, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - New Mexico senior Jarrin Solomon and BYU junior Amy Menlove have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men's and women's indoor track & field athletes of the week, respectively.

Solomon earns the award with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.84 seconds in the men's 400-meter race at the Cherry & Silver Invitational held at the Albuquerque Convention Center last Saturday. After redshirting in 2008, the Albuquerque native picked up where he left off in 2007, breaking his own school record in a wire-to-wire victory. His performance ranks third all-time in the Conference record book, leads the league so far this season and is currently second in the country, according to TrackShark.com. Solomon outlasted two All-Americans in the race and was edged only by former USA Indoor 400-meter champion James Davis, who set a Convention Center record of 46.00. Solomon also ran a leg on the Lobo 4x400-meter relay team, which placed fourth at the meet with a time of 3:16.71.

Menlove placed first in the long jump and second in the 60-meter hurdles to earn the women's award while also competing at the Cherry & Silver Invitational. Hailing from Sandy, Utah, Menlove leaped 20'-6.50" (6.26m) to capture the women's long jump title and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. The mark currently ranks first in the Conference and eighth in the nation, according to TrackShark.com. Menlove went on to clock an altitude-adjusted, NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8.27 in the women's 60-meter hurdles, finishing second only to former 60-meter hurdle National Indoor Champion Shantia Moss. Menlove's time ranks first in the league and sixth in the country this season (according to TrackShark.com), and is third-fastest all-time in the MWC record books.

This marks Solomon's first career indoor weekly award and Menlove's second of the season, third of her career.