Feb. 3, 2009
Irving - For the second time this indoor season Gerald Phiri has been selected as the Big 12 Athlete of the Week. He shared the men's honor with Kansas pole vaulter Jordan Scott while Colorado's Jenny Barringer received the women's award.
Phiri registered another school record in running 6.59 seconds for second place in the men's 60 meters at the Texas A&M Showdown this past weekend in a meet that featured the Big 12 versus the SEC. He bettered his previous school record mark of 6.64 set twice by Phiri in 2008.
In challenging LSU's Trindon Holliday (6.56), the 2008 NCAA runner-up in the 60, Phiri earned an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships that will be hosted by Texas A&M on March 13-14.
Phiri won the 200 meters at the Big 12-SEC Showdown in a career indoor best of 21.01 seconds, which currently ranks fifth in the world for the 2009 indoor season. He equals eighth in the world in the 60. Among Big 12 sprinters, Phiri leads both the 60 and 200 meter lists.
Texas A&M travels to New York City this weekend to compete in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-7, at the Armory.