Merritt Earns National, C-USA Honors
February 08, 2005 | Men's Track and Field
GREENVILLE, N.C. --Freshman sprinter LaShawn Merritt has been selected as the National Athlete-of-the-Week by both the The United States Track Coaches Association and USA Track & Field Tuesday.
In addition, he was also named the Conference USA Athlete-of-the-Week, becoming the first male and second C-USA athlete in the history of the league to win three weekly honors during a single track season.
Merritt turned in the fastest 400 meter dash time in the world so far this season at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Florida Sunday (Feb. 6).
Merritt's school-record time of 45.94 is also the fastest indoor performance ever by anyone under 18 years of age. When converted from the 200 meter flat track at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, the time is 45.54 as listed on the national performance list.
Merritt also teamed with B.J. Henderson, Dominick Richmond and DeAndre Hyman to earn a third-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:12.84 to earn provisional qualification.
The Pirates will next be in action at the Tyson Indoor Invitational and the Virginia Tech Challenge on Feb. 11-12.
