SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford’s Brandon Hazouri and Western Carolina’s Jamie Brown have been named Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week on the men’s side, while a pair of Catamounts – Tayla Carter and Hailey Cook – swept the honors on the women’s side. Selections were made by a group of the league’s track and field coaches and include all competition through Jan. 16.
Hazouri nabbed the men’s track honor after finishing first in the mile run this past weekend at the UAB Blazer Invite. His time of 4:07.56 broke Samford’s program record in addition to setting a meet record. The senior achieved a negative split, running the first half of the race in 2:06 and the second half of the race in 2:01.
Brown took the men’s field honor by breaking a 32-year-old school record at WCU, posting a long jump mark of 7.67 meters at the David E. Walker Classic on Jan. 9. The mark is currently best in the SoCon by 1 ½ feet and ranks seventh nationally. The freshman from Knightdale, N.C., also posted a SoCon-best 2.05m (6’ 8.75”) in the high jump for a first-place tie at the David E. Walker Classic and notched a league-best triple jump of 14.60m at the ETSU Invitational this past weekend.
Carter earned women’s track athlete of the week after strong performances at WCU’s last two meets. The Marietta, Ga., product finished second in the women’s 4x400 meters at the David E. Walker Classic, as she anchored a relay squad that stopped the clock at 3:54.85. She also took fourth in the 60m at the same meet with a time of 7.68. This past weekend, Carter topped the field with a league-best time of 7.51 seconds in the 60m at the ETSU Invitational and anchored the Catamounts’ winning 4x400m team, which turned in a SoCon-best time of 3:52.03.
Cook, from Hendersonville, N.C., swept the shot put and the weight throw at the ETSU Invitational en route to field athlete of the week, taking the shot put title with a league-leading toss of 14.93m (48’ 11.75”) and the weight throw with a distance of 16.91m (55’ 5.75”). Cook also recorded a conference-best weight throw of 16.97m (55' 8.25") at the Appalachian Open in December.
Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Jan. 20 – Brandon Hazouri, Samford
Honorable mention: Lee Warren (VMI), Jermaine Lewis (Western Carolina) and Dakota Lamont (Western Carolina).
Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 20 – Jamie Brown, Western Carolina
Honorable mention: Marquis Barnes (Samford), Jared Johnson (Western Carolina), Corey Ginley (Western Carolina) and Joel Hoisington (VMI).
Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Jan. 20 – Tayla Carter, Western Carolina
Honorable mention: Kimberly Ruch (Samford).
Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 20 – Hailey Cook, Western Carolina
Honorable mention: Alexandra Burgess (Wofford).
-www.SoConSports.com-