BIRMINGHAM – Four Texas A&M track and field athletes were selected for SEC Athlete of the Week honors. The crew included Shavez Hart and Jennifer Madu, who were chosen as Runner of the Week, along with Ioannis Kyriazis and Ashtin Zamzow, who were each named Freshman of the Week.
Hart set a career best of 46.48 to win the 400 meters at the Baldy Castillo Invitational hosted by Arizona State and ran the second leg of the Aggie 4x100 relay that won in a collegiate leading 38.98 seconds. Hart's previous best in the 400 was a 47.36 from the 2013 season. His 400m time is currently second best in the nation and leads the SEC.
Madu cruised to a dominate victory in the 100m with a time of 11.43 seconds and ran the third leg of the A&M 4x100 that defeated the field by over a second with a 44.12 clocking. Madu's 100m time is second best collegiately and currently tops the SEC.
Zazmow registered a pair of career best marks in winning the heptathlon with a collegiate-leading 5,231 points at the Shirley Crowe combined events hosted by Rice and then finishing third in the javelin at the Castillo Invitational with a throw of 162 feet (49.37), which bettered her previous PR by 10 feet. Zamzow leads the SEC javelin by one foot and ranks seventh collegiately. She is the only freshman with a mark among the top 20 collegiate throws this season.
Kyriazis only had two attempts with a short approach in the javelin at the Castillo Invitational, and still managed to improve his career best to 245-10 (74.94) to win the event. That mark ranks third collegiately and is second best in the SEC behind defending NCAA champion Sam Crouser of Oregon (259-0) and Kentucky's Raymond Dykstra (252-1), the 2014 NCAA runner-up and defending SEC champion.
Just as impressive was the field Kyriazis bettered in the competition. Runner-up at 243-8 was A&M school record holder Sam Humphreys of Nike, who won the 2013 NCAA title as well as the 2012 Olympic Trials, and current A&M teammate Devin Bogert, who placed third with a 238-4 mark.
The Aggies return to action this week with the 88th Texas Relays in Austin. Competition begins on Wednesday with the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m. for Jena Hemann and Annie Kunz and continues through Saturday.