Fresno State Athletics
Women's track and field sweeps MW awards
4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
By: Matt Burkholder
mburkholder@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Mountain West announced on Tuesday that the Fresno State track and field program swept its weekly awards on the women's side -- Annemarie Schwanz was named the MW track athlete of the week and Je'Nia Sears was named the MW field athlete of the week. Both awards come at the heels of the duo setting the No. 2 NCAA marks in their respective events this season.
Schwanz, a junior, earned the award for the first time in her career. She outpaced 31 elite runners in the 1500-meter run for the win at the Stanford Twilight on Friday, clocking the No. 2 time in NCAA this season at 4:14.89; the top five was rounded out by three from Stanford and another from Colorado. Not only was it a Fresno State record, but the third-fastest 1500m ever run by a Mountain West women's track athlete.
Sears, a senior, is the recipient of the weekly award for the second time this season, and career. At the home-hosted Bulldog Invitational on Saturday, Sears set the second-best mark in the nation with a Fresno State record-setting jump of 6.63 meters (21-9.00), it was briefly the No. 1 jump in the NCAA, but the mark was bested later that day by a student-athlete from Alabama. Sears' tied Mindy McClurkin (BYU), who leapt to the same mark in 2010, for the second-longest jump ever recorded by a Mountain West women's field athlete.
Earlier this season, Sears held the honor of MW women's field athlete of the week on April 5 after the Stanford Invitational on April 1. Sears won the Invite section of the Stanford Invitational with what was then the fourth-best mark (6.33m/20-9.25) recorded in the NCAA.
Tuesday's honor by the Mountain West follows up an announcement on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) that the Fresno State women's track and field program was ranked No. 29 in the latest NCAA D1 USTFCCCA national team computer rankings.
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