SPARTANBURG, S.C. ?The Southern Conference’s track & field coaches selected Josh Houser of Appalachian State and Michael Mentz of Chattanooga as the Men’s Track & Field Athletes of the Week.

Houser, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., placed sixth at the Penn State Sykes-Sabock Challenge in the mile with a time 4:10.98.  His time leads the Southern Conference by four seconds and places Houser fourth on Appalachian State’s all-time list.

Mentz, a senior from Bloemfontein, South Africa, ran a personal best and a league-leading time in the 3,000-meters at the McCravy Invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky.  His time of 8:23.60 placed him sixth the field.  Mentz was name the UTC Outstanding Senior Male Athlete for this week.

Other Top Performers:

Manteo Mitchell, a junior from Western Carolina won the 400-meters at the Akron Open with a Southern Conference leading time of 48.04.  He also placed fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 21.76.  Mitchell has the fastest time in the 400-meters, third fastest time in the 60-meters and third fastest time in the 200-meters in the conference.  He is also a member of the top-ranked 4x400-meter relay team in the conference.

Past Winners

Jan 23: Ricky Harris, Appalachian State

Jan 31: Alex Hoyt, Davidson