SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Samford senior Blaise Carie has been named Southern Conference Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week while Western Carolina junior Jamie Van Pelt was named the SoCon Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week for their performances for all meets, April 1-3.  The selections are made by the league's track and field coaches.

Carie, a senior from Mount Zion, Ill., ran a personal best and SoCon leading time of 9:03.90 in the steeplechase.  Carie won the event by almost nine seconds at the Tiger Track Classic hosted by Auburn University.  The senior ranks second all-time in the Samford record books in the steeplechase.

Van Pelt, a junior at Western Carolina, set two personal-records over the weekend at the Tiger Track Classic in Auburn, Ala.  The Tampa, Fla., native launched a distance of 160'8" in the discus followed by a hammer toss of 175'11."  Van Pelt currently ranks first in the conference in the discus and is top five in the hammer and javelin.

Other top performers this week included:

Appalachian State junior Dennis Moore - Won the 100m and 200m dash at the Liberty Invitational with times of 10.93 and 21.64, respectively.

Appalachian State senior Jerod Gardner - Placed second in the shot put at the Liberty Invitational with a conference leading throw of 54'2."

Samford junior Michael Seaman - Jumped a SoCon leading height of 17'0.75" in the pole vault to place him fourth in the East.

Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week

Mar. 16 - Paul Katam, UNCG

Mar. 23 - Cordell Livingston, Western Carolina

Mar. 30 - Ryan Hopkins, Davidson

Apr. 6 - Blaise Carie, Samford

Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week

Mar. 16 - Michael Seaman, Samford

Mar. 23 - Kyle Kirby, Samford

Mar. 30 - Malcolm Styers, Appalachian State

Apr. 6 - Jamie Van Pelt, Western Carolina