Mountain West Conference Names Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week

BYU's Kyle Perry, Wyoming's Jake Shanklin and TCU's Virgil Hodge Earn the Honors

BYU's Kyle Perry
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Feb. 5, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU junior Kyle Perry and Wyoming junior Jake Shanklin have been selected as the Mountain West Conference Men's Indoor Track and Field Co-Athletes of the Week, while TCU senior Virgil Hodge has been chosen as the Women's Indoor Track and Field Athlete of Week.

Perry earns his second consecutive MWC honor after setting the second-fastest mile time in the nation so far this season, according to TrackShark.com, at the University of Washington Invitational in Seattle, Wash. Perry's time of 3:59.16 is an NCAA automatic qualifying time and marks the second-fastest indoor mile performance in MWC history. The Sandy, Utah, native is only the second Cougar to ever break the four-minute barrier indoors. Perry finished second at the meet while competing against athletes from nationally-ranked Texas Tech (No. 5), Arizona State (No. 19) and Washington (No. 23).

Shanklin, a product of Ellensburg, Wash., also receives his second MWC honor of the season after taking the title in the 35-pound weight throw at the Air Force Invitational, held in Colorado Springs, Colo., with a toss of 71'-10.25". It currently ranks as the longest throw in the nation this season, according to TrackShark.com, and is the second-best mark in MWC history. Shanklin's toss, which enters the Wyoming record books at third place all-time, automatically earned him a spot at this year's NCAA Championships. His effort leads the Conference for the season and is second in Air Force Invitational history behind fellow Cowboy Kevin Mannon.

Hailing from St. Kitts, Carribean, Hodge collects her second weekly honor of the season for her efforts at the Rod McCravy Invitational, held in Lexington, Ky. The sprinter placed second in both the 60-meter and the 200-meter dashes. Clocking a provisional qualifying time of 7.32, Hodge secured the fastest 60-meter time in the MWC this season and the ninth-fastest in the nation, according to TrackShark.com. She went on to run the 200-meter in 23.91, just shy of her league-leading time of 23.63, at the Arkansas Invitational. Hodge ran against sprinters from nationally-ranked Tennessee (No. 2), Texas A&M (No. 3), Florida (No. 11), and Georgia Tech (No. 17).