SoCon announces Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford’s Bradley Franklin, Arthur Chitty, and Ellison Chadwick have been named the SoCon men’s indoor track, men’s indoor field, and women’s indoor field athletes of the week, respectively. Additionally, Furman’s Claire Cook claimed women’s track athlete of the week honors, the conference office announced Wednesday.  

Selections were made by panels of the league’s track and field coaches and included all competitions from Dec. 3-9. 

Samford opened their season at the CCG Bham Collegiate Ice Breaker on Dec. 5. 

Franklin claimed first-place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.71. This mark ranks the Bulldog sophomore first in the conference and third in the nation. 

Chitty also captured a win in the men’s high jump, leaping 2.16m to lead the conference and rank him third in the nation.  

Chadwick posted a conference-best mark of 6.06m in the long jump, which is also a personal best for the junior from Stone Mountain, Georgia. 

Cook and the Furman squads competed at the Clemson Opener on Dec. 5. The sophomore set a Furman program record in the 600m, winning the race with a time of 1:30.93. 

The Bulldogs and the Paladins will return to competition after the new year rings in with Samford hosting the Samford Invite and Open the weekend of Jan. 16-17, while Furman will visit Nashville, Tennessee, across those same dates for the Vanderbilt Invite. 

Also nominated: Chris Knight (Furman – Men's Track), Kiera-Lee Abrahams (Samford – Women's Track), Ryleigh Simmons (Chattanooga – Women's Track), Naturale Faison (VMI – Women's Track)  

2025-26 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week   

Men’s track  

Dec. 10 – Bradley Franklin, Samford  

Women’s track  

Dec. 10 – Claire Cook, Furman  

Men’s field 

Dec. 10 – Arthur Chitty, Samford 

Women’s field 

Dec. 10 – Ellison Chadwick, Samford