McNeill, White Collect Big Sky Athlete of the Week Awards

OGDEN, Utah – The Northern Arizona track and field team collected two Big Sky Athlete of the Week awards Tuesday afternoon. Junior David McNeill and freshman Charles White won the awards for their strong performances in this past weekend’s Friday Night Challenge held at the Walkup Skydome.

The Lumberjacks have now collected six Big Sky Athlete of the Week awards in 2010.

McNeill took home the men’s track athlete of the week award when he blazed past the field in the mile run, and finished with a time of 4:10.15. With the altitude adjustment, the Australia native nearly broke the sub-four minute mark. His time was good enough to give him the top spot amongst Big Sky athletes in the mile run, and also was an NCAA provisional mark.

The men’s field athlete of the week belonged to White, who in just his second meet as a Lumberjack qualified for the Big Sky Indoor Championships in both the long jump and triple jump. The Las Vegas native’s mark of 14.89m (48-10.25) in the triple jump gives him a share of the top spot with teammate Thremaine Johnson. His mark of 7.08m (23-02.75) in the long jump is good enough for sole possession of first place.

Sprints, jumps and hurdles coach Wiley King is proud of White’s accomplishments in just his second meet for the Lumberjacks.

“Charles came in here with a lot of potential being a basketball player in high school, and is still learning the long jump and triple jump,” King said. “He has a lot of upside, and our main focus right now is using some of his natural talents. As he begins to hone in on some of the technical aspects of those jumps, I think he can be a pretty good athlete.”

McNeill and White will look to extend their marks in their respective events as they take part in the Mountain T’s Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Walkup Skydome.