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Batty named Athlete of the Week - USATFPublished by
Batty named Athlete of the Week3/16/2011
INDIANAPOLIS -Miles Batty, a junior at Brigham Young University, has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after he narrowly won the men’s mile and the anchored BYU’s winning distance medley relay team last weekend Division I NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Texas A&M University.
“I was really excited to have one individual title and one relay title,” Batty said. “The mile shows what I did by myself, but to win the relay and see how happy my teammates were was awesome.”
During Friday night’s DMR, Batty was able to hold off a 3:53.29 split run by Indiana’s Andy Bayer to bring home the national crown for the Cougars. Less than 24 hours later, Batty found himself in second place coming out of the final turn of the mile, but managed to pass Chris O’Hare of Tulsa on the outside to win by two tenths of a second in 3:59.49.
Batty stepped into the national spotlight earlier this year when he broke the 4-minute barrier and finished only one second behind Chris Solinsky at the Husky Classic in Washington. Since then, Batty has received numerous conference and national honors.
“It is nice to see people recognizing what you are doing, but it makes me want to not stop and do even more,” Batty said.
Now in its tenth year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
Winners: January 5, Bill Tribou; January 12, Tyler Sorensen; January 20, Josh Cox; January 26, Ben Shorey; February 2, Ashton Eaton; February 9, Ashton Eaton; February 16, Bernard Lagat; February 23, Ryan Crouser; March 2, Jillian Camarena-Williams; March 10, Bill Collins; March 16, Miles Batty
WEEK IN REVIEW - MARCH 7-13
From USATF Statistician Glen McMicken DOUBLE REPEAT AT NCAA D I CHAMPIONSHIPS
Florida's men and Oregon's women repeated as NCAA Division I team champions at College Station, Texas, but individual excellence stole the show as four world-leading marks and four U.S. season bests were recorded.
South Carolina's Kya Brookins tied the collegiate record with her 7.09 in the 60, winning her second NCAA dash crown at Texas A&M's track after taking the title in 2009.
2009 World Championships semifinalist and relay gold medalist Jessica Beard of Texas A&M moved to third on the all-time U.S. indoor 400 list with her world-leading 50.79. She later anchored the Aggies to 4x400 gold with a 51.09 carry.
Mookie Salaam of Oklahoma took over the global lead in the men's 200 with his 20.39 in the prelims, returning later Friday night to win the furlong gold in 20.41.
Relay world-leaders were turned in by Texas A&M's men in the 4x400 at 3:04.24, and by Villanova's women's distance medley in 10:52.52. Arkansas took over the U.S. women's 4x4 lead with their 3:30.08 in second place.
The only individual double winner of the meet was Oregon distance ace Jordan Hasay, who grabbed gold in the mile with a PR 4:33.01, and the 3000 at 9:13.71.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN, GRAND VALLEY TOP D II CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Ramon Sparks won the triple jump and his three other teammates accounted for 39 points to help Abilene Christian win the men's NCAA II team title at Albuquerque. Ashland's Ryan Loughney had one of the best individual efforts with a winning 21.99m/72-1.75 in the 35-pound weight.
Junior Monica Kinney was a double gold medalist for Grand Valley State, taking top honors in the mile and 5000-meters, and teammate Lauren Buresh won the shot put to give the Lakers their first-ever national team title.
NORTH CENTRAL, WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH SQUEAK OUT D III WINS
Mike Spain won the 5000 in 14:17.42 and Peter Geraghty was second in the pole vault with a jump of 5.32m/17-5.5 to lead the North Central College (Ill.) men to a one-point win at the NCAA III meet in Columbus, Ohio. Only three points separated the top four men's teams in the final standings.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh had a double winner in the women's throws as Holly Ozanich threw the shot put 15.28m/50-1.75 and the 20-pound weight 20.62m/67-8 to lead the Titans to a 2.5-point team win over Wartburg. More news |
