Track and Field Sweeps BIG EAST Field Awards
February 08, 2011 | Men's Track and Field
Feb. 8, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville men's and women's track and field's Khadija Abdullah and Weston Banks swept the conference field awards this week, as they were named BIG EAST Men's and Women's Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced Tuesday afternoon.
It is the second time this season the Cardinals have swept the field awards, with D'Ana McCarty and Wesley Smith being named the men's and women's field athletes of the week on Dec. 7.
This past week, the Cardinal throwers, along with the sprints and jumps groups, competed at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet on Feb. 4-5 in Blacksburg, Va. Abdullah registered her fourth-straight victory in the shot put, with a first-place finish after a toss of 16.59m/54-5.25. The toss is Abdullah's second-best mark of the season, only behind her NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 16.96m/55-7.75, which she reached in the squad's season-opener on Dec. 3.
Banks set a pair of career marks at the meet, breaking his previous records in the weight throw and shot put. He registered a top-10 finish in the weight throw, with a toss of 18.51m/58-6.75, for a ninth-place finish on Feb. 4. A day later, he took third in the shot put after recording a throw of 17.85m/58-6.75. The mark ranks No. 23 nationally in the event is a little more than a foot away from the school record, which was set in 2009 by Steven Hnat (18.22m/59-9.50).
The Cardinals return to action on Friday, Feb. 11, at the prestigious Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. The two-day event, hosted by the University of Arkansas, will take place at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
For all of the latest information on Louisville cross country and track and field, log on to uoflsports.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/louisvilletrack.
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