May 6, 2008

IRVING, Texas - UTEP's Ronalds Arajs earns C-USA Male Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors, while Memphis' Susan King and UTEP's Keisha Walkes shares the weekly award for the women. This is the second time UTEP has earned a share of both awards and it marks Kings' second outdoor athlete of the week honor in 2008.

C-USA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD NOTEBOOK & TOP PERFORMANCES

Walkes and King has outstanding performances in the shot put and discus over the weekend. The pair won individual titles and established NCAA Regional qualifying marks at their respectively invitationals.

Arajs won the 100-meters and met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard in the 200m at the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., last weekend.

C-USA CO-FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

KEISHA WALKES, UTEP
Senior, Shot Put/Discus, St. Lucy, Barbados
Walkes picked up a pair of first-place finishes and NCAA Regional marks at the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., last weekend.

She threw 16.05-meters (52-08") in the shot put and 50.15-meters (164-06") in the discus to meet the NCAA qualifying standards in both events.

Walkes performance in the shot put broke her own school record of 16.01m, set the previous week at the Drake Relays and ranks third-best in the league and 17 best in the NCAA.

SUSAN KING, MEMPHIS
Senior, Shot Put/Discus, League City, Texas
King own both the shot put and discus throw at the Ole Miss Invite. She won the discus event by breaking her school record and setting an NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 51.23m (168-01"). She also won the shot put with her second best throw of the season of 17.37m (57-00"), which also meets regional qualifying standards.

C-USA MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

RONALDS ARAJS, UTEP
Sophomore, Sprints, Riga, Latvia
Arajs won the 100-meters and met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard in the 200-meters at the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., last weekend.

He clocked a winning time of 10.27 in the 100m and placed second in the 200m with a clocking of 20.75. Both times are C-USA bests and rank 13th and 18th best in the nation, respectively.

2008 C-USA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
March 25
Male - Jason Colwick, Rice
Female - Desarie Walwyn, Rice

April 1
Male - Mickael Hanany, UTEP
Female - Blessing Okagbare, UTEP

April 8
Male - Steffen Nerdel, Memphis
Female - Silje Fjortoft, SMU

April 15
Male - Bubba Heard, Rice
Female - Susan King, Memphis & Blessing Okagbare, UTEP

April 22
Male - Knut Syversen, Memphis
Female - Andrea Kvetova, SMU

April 29
Male - Mickael Hanany, UTEP
Female - Dione Thomas, UCF

May 6
Male - Ronalds Arajs, UTEP
Female - Keisha Walkes, UTEP and Susan King, Memphis