Greggmar Swift of Indiana State clinches the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honors for the fourth consecutive week with another standout performance in the 60-meter hurdle event. This week’s Women’s Track Athlete of the Week is awarded to Aisha Praught of Illinois State who ranks 21^st in the nation in the mile after her performance this past weekend at the Meyo Invitational.

J.C. Lambert of Southern Illinois takes home Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors, and currently ranks third in the nation in weight throw. Felisha Johnson also tops national charts, ranking second in the nation in weight throw, earning this week’s Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week selection.

Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Track Athlete of the Week

Greggmar Swift, Indiana State, So., Bridgetown, Barbados

Indiana State sophomore Greggmar Swift continued to dominate the 60 meter hurdle event, posting the fastest time in the preliminaries on Friday at the Meyo Invitational and then winning the event on Saturday to remain undefeated on the indoor season. Swift ran 7.79 seconds for the top time in the preliminaries and came back with a 7.78, just a hundredth of a second off his personal best, to win by a second over Caleb Cross of Arkansas (7.88) and Durell Busby of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (7.96). Swift leads the Valley in the event and ranks ninth nationally.

Other Notable Performances:

Zach Dahleen, Southern Illinois

Mat Smoody, Illinois State

Lawson Montgomery, Wichita State

Brady Fritz, Northern Iowa

Omet Kak, Drake

Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week

Aisha Praught, Illinois State, Sr., Moline, Ill.

Just one week after breaking a 28-year-old Illinois State record in the mile, senior Aisha Praught goes out and runs three seconds faster at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., establishing yet another school mark (4:41.49). With that time, Praught took third in the renowned Meyo Mile and still owns the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference by ten seconds.  After this past weekend’s competition, she is ranked 21st overall in the nation in the mile. Her time of 4:41.49 was just seven-tenths of a second behind the MVC indoor record of 4:40.73 set by Desiraye Osburn in 2006. Praught now owns the top-two times in Redbird history.

Other Notable Performances:

Audacia Moore, Wichita State

Leeann Michl, Indiana State

Amiris Warren, Southern Illinois

Althia Maximilien, Missouri State

Marissa Smith, Drake

Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week

J.C. Lambert, Southern Illinois, Sr., Harrisburg, Ill.

One week after sweeping the throws competition’s at UK’s Rod McCravy Invitational, J.C. Lambert repeated at the Saluki Invitational this weekend. The seniors’ toss in the shot put was recorded at 58-04.50 while he posted a 70-11.75 mark in the weight throw. Lambert’s weight throw from the Saluki Open currently ranks him third in the nation when he recorded a distance of 74-04.25.

Other Notable Performances:

Jake DeJaegher, Illinois State

Austin Bahner, Wichita State

Brandon Pounds, Indiana State

Daniel Gooris, Northern Iowa

Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week

Felisha Johnson, Indiana State, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.

Junior Felisha Johnson posted a pair of victories in the throw events at the Meyo Invitational this weekend, setting a new Meyo Invitational record in winning the weight throw on Friday and coming back to take the shot put on Saturday. Johnson won the weight throw for the third time in five meets this season with a distance of 67’-10” (20.69) more than a foot better than second place Alexis Thomas of Ohio State who went 66’-1” (20.15 meters). The winning throw broke the meet record of 64’-7” (19.70 meters) set by Maryland’s Ruth Kura in 2002. Johnson won the shot put for the third time in five meets this season with her winning toss of 54’-3.75” (16.55 meters) almost three feet further than Dani Bunch of Purdue who was second at 51’-10.5” (15.81 meters). The Sycamore ranks second in the Valley in the weight throw and third in the shot put. She also ranks second nationally in the weight throw and ninth in the shot put.

Other Notable Performances:

Tanya Friesen, Wichita State

Kenya Culmer, Southern Illinois

Jenna Wexter, Northern Iowa

Kimsue Grant, Missouri State