April 4, 2002
ASHEVILLE, NC -- The Southern Conference announced today that Western Carolina's Darrus Cofield and Michelle Velez were named SoCon Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week for April 3. This week marks the second and third selections for WCU athletes this outdoor season. Velez is the second consecutive Lady Catamount to earn the weekly honors. Altavise Franklin was named the female athlete of the week last week.
Cofield, a red-shirt freshman from Raleigh, NC, recorded a conference-leading 47.90 in the 400-meter race at the Florida Relays this past weekend. He also helped establish two WCU school records at the event. Cofield ran the second leg for the Western Carolina 4 x 100-meter relay team which set a new school record time of 40.77. Cofield also registered a split time of 45.78 on the third leg of the Catamount's sprint relay team which broke a school record with its time of 3:19.98.
Velez, a sophomore from Asheville, NC, placed third at the Florida Relays in the pole vault. Her mark of 12' 6.25" is a NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark. Velez won the pole vault competition in the Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field meet back in March. At the Florida Relays, Velez also set a personal record of 14.89 in the 100-meter hurdles.
The Catamounts travel to Atlanta this weekend to participate in the Georgia Tech Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
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