This week’s Men’s Track Athlete of the Week goes to Greggmar Swift of Indiana State. Olimpia Nowak of Northern Iowa receives this week’s MVC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week honor. Also for the Panthers, Daniel Gooris takes home the Men’s Field Athlete of the Week, and Brittany Smith is awarded Women’s Field Athlete of the Week recognition.

Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Track Athlete of the Week

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

Indiana State sophomore Greggmar Swift was one of two Indiana State winners on the men’s side at the 103rd Drake Relays this past weekend, capturing the men’s 110 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 13.72 in the finals Saturday. Kennesaw State senior Kendall Parks was second in 13.79 with Ohio state sophomore Demoye Bogle third in 13.81. Swift won the third heat of the preliminaries on Friday by running 14.00. Saturday’s win was Swift’s third 110 meter hurdle race of Saturdays competition as he also anchored the 4x110 shuttle hurdle relay team that ran 56.42 to win the finals Saturday afternoon which is the second fastest relay time in school history. North Dakota State was second in the finals at 58.05 with Northern Iowa third in 58.96. Swift’s first 110 hurdle race came early Saturday morning in the shuttle hurdle relay preliminaries as Indiana State won the third heat with a time of 57.89, the fastest time in the preliminaries. Swift currently ranks second in the Valley in the 110 hurdles, 13th on the national performance list in the 110 meter hurdles, and seventh on the NCAA East performance list.

Other Notable Performances:

Dominic Williams, Southern Illinois

Omet Kak, Drake

Tomas Cotter, Wichita State

Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week

Olimpia Nowak, Northern Iowa, Sr., Rawicz, Poland

UNI senior Olimpia Nowak broke the UNI school record in the 100m hurdles and ran the anchor leg on the Panthers’ school-record shuttle hurdle relay team at the Drake Relays. Nowak posted a 100m hurdles time of 13.58 seconds – currently putting her No. 47 in the nation, No. 24 in the West Region, and No. 2 in the MVC. She helped the UNI shuttle hurdle relay team break the school record twice in a matter of five hours on its way to a second-place finish in 56.02 seconds.

Other Notable Performances:

Leeann Michl, Indiana State

Aisha Praught , Illinois State

Natalie Morerod, Wichita State

Amiris Warren, Southern Illinois

Kirsten Lake, Drake

Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week

Daniel Gooris, Northern Iowa, Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.

UNI junior Daniel Gooris won the decathlon title at the prestigious Drake Relays, scoring a personal-best 7,624 points to currently rank No. 10 in the nation. He topped the rest of the field by a 300-point margin and set new lifetime bests in four of the 10 events. Gooris notched outdoor-best performances in two additional events. Along with holding the top decathlon score in the Valley, Gooris ranks second in the MVC in the pole vault with his clearance of 17-00.75 (5.20m) from this weekend.

Other Notable Performances:

Brandon Pounds, Indiana State

Kevin Harp, Drake

Curt Jensen, Illinois State

Aaron Young, Wichita State

Douglas Palacious, Southern Illinois

Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week

Brittany Smith, Illinois State, Jr., Oak Park, Ill.

Brittany Smith showed another dominating performance this past weekend as she took on the nation’s best at the 2012 Drake Relays.  Competing head-to-head against the top-10 best throwers in the nation, Smith finished with two second-place honors, and a seventh, breaking a school record in the process. In the shot put, Smith finished second to NCAA Indoor Shot Put Champion Tia Brooks of Oklahoma, throwing a mark of 57-05.00. She then came back later in the day, taking seventh in the discus with a mark of 171-10. On the final day of competition, Smith took to the start of the hammer competition, throwing a staggering 214-02, five feet further than her previous best and school record. She claimed second on the day to MVC foe Jeneva McCall of Southern Illinois. Smith proved to be the top MVC competitor at the Drake Relays, taking two out of three events from McCall. As it stands, Smith ranks third in the nation in the shot put, first in the MVC, and top-10 in her other two disciplines (DT-10th, HT-6th).

Other Notable Performances:

Courtney Reinke, Wichita State

Malaikah Love, Southern Illinois

Richelle Kimble, Indiana State

Olimpia Nowak, Northern Iowa