Complete Release
NEW ORLEANS - Little Rock's Anika Charles and South Alabama's Sean Collins highlight this week's Outdoor Track and Field Student-Athletes of the Week, as announced on Wednesday by the league office.
Collins, a freshman, recorded the best mark in the pole vault in the nation this weekend, surpassing his own school record for the third time this season on Friday at the South Alabama Invitational after clearing 5.47m (17'11.25") to win the event by a .15m margin. In picking up his fifth victory in as many tries this season, the freshman maintained his lead in the Sun Belt while moving up to fourth in the NCAA East Region and fifth in the national rankings.
The honor is Collins' second this season as the 2016 indoor pole vault champion earned the same award during the indoor season.
Appalachian State's duo of Stanley Broaden and Kaytlyn Gill were named the Men's Track Athlete of the Week and Women's Field Athlete of the Week, respectively, for their performances this past weekend.
Broaden, a senior, earned a pair of first-place finishes at the Charlotte Invite in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles last weekend. Broaden ran a personal-best in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.37 and beat the second-place runner by nearly two seconds. The time for Broaden is third all-time in program history and tops in the Sun Belt this season and ranks 27th in the country – 12th on the East Outdoor Qualifying list.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Broaden won with a time of 14.22. Broaden was also a member of the first-place 4x400-meter relay team who won with a time of 3:14.69, which sits fourth in the Sun Belt this season.
Gill finished the Charlotte Invitational with a first-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 41'4.25" – good for sixth all-time in App State history.
The personal-best also vaulted Gill to the top spot in the Sun Belt this season for the triple jump. The jump for Gill also ranks her 19th on the East Outdoor Qualifying list. Gill also ran a leg of the 4x100-meter relay with the team finishing with a time of 47.20.
Little Rock's Anika Charles earned the Trojans' second consecutive Women's Track Athlete of the Week honor (Rickitha Hicks won the award last week). Charles had the greatest sprinting day in the history of the Little Rock track and field program on Friday, breaking the school record in the 100 and 200 at the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Relays. Charles started her record-breaking Friday with the best 100-meter run in the history of the program, setting a new school record with a time of 11.71 seconds. Charles beat out the record previously held by Pepper Foster and 11.75 seconds. Foster’s record had stood since May 2008.
A couple hours later, Charles was right back at the record breaking in the 200. She crossed the finish line in 24.08 seconds, .01 seconds better than the previous Little Rock record. That mark, set by Cherri Boykins in 2000, was 24.09 seconds. Charles’ times are the third- and fourth-best in the Sun Belt this year.