This week’s Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week are Southern Illinois’ Anthony Acklin, Indiana State’s Charlie Sparks, Wichita State’s Desiraye Osburn and Rachel Jansen of UNI.

Acklin picked up a second-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at the Ole Miss Invitational last weekend. The senior finished in 13.84, currently the sixth fastest time in the nation this season and tops on the Valley Best List.

Sparks improved on his NCAA regional qualifying mark in the discus by throwing a first-place distance of 174-00 at the Gatorade Classic. The throw was 10-feet better than the second-place finisher from Louisville and the senior helped INS win the men’s team title out of seven Division I schools. The Sycamores scored 287 points.

Osburn broke yet another MVC and school record at the Texas Relays over the weekend. The Kansas native placed second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:19.95, breaking the WSU record set by herself last season and the Valley record set by Jennie Horner of Southern Illinois in 1995. With the time, she regionally qualified for the national outdoor meet. This is the second week in a row Osburn has regionally qualified for the national meet and broken an MVC and school record. Last weekend at the Stanford Invitational, Osburn broke the 5,000-meter record and regionally qualified with her time.

Jansen won the hammer throw at the UNI Messersmith Invitational with a mark of 176-07. The toss set a new UNI school record and ranks fifth on the Valley Best List. The sophomore also claimed first place in the discus (166-1) and in the shot put (50-04.50). Jensen currently holds the top discus mark in the league and the second-best shot put mark.