Little Rock Claims Three OVC Track & Field Athlete of the Week Honors

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Little Rock track and field took home half of the Ohio Valley Conference's weekly athlete of the week honors Wednesday, claiming three of the six recognitions.
 
TaVieon Neal was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Week, Takia Palmer was named the Women's Freshman of the Week and Hayden Wilson was named the Men's Freshman of the Week. This marks the first career weekly honor for Neal and Palmer while Wilson, who was Freshman of the Week on Jan. 16 of the indoor season, claims his first outdoor and second overall career weekly award.


 
A sophomore, Neal inserted himself into the national conversation twice last weekend with a pair of silver medals claimed at the 40th Annual Victor Lopez Classic hosted by Rice. Neal started the action off by running the second leg of the 4x100m relay as the squad clocked 39.53, a time that ranks second in school history and is the fastest time ever ran by an OVC 4x100m relay team. The Trojans relay squad is ranked 11th in the nation currently with eight Power 5 relay teams ahead of them. Finishing second in the race behind only Houston, Little Rock's relay team currently ranks 16th in the world. Neal followed that up by running a blistering 10.35 in the 100m dash, posting the fastest time in the OVC this year with a mark that ranks 16th in the country among wind-legal times, 27th overall. His time places him seventh all-time at Little Rock in the 100m dash.


 
Palmer raced to a fast start at the 40th Annual Victor Lopez Classic hosted by Rice, running the third leg of the Little Rock 4x100m relay that clocked an OVC-leading time of 45.50. The time, which ranks second in school history, currently places the Trojans 19th on the West Prelims Performance List and ranks Little Rock 48th in the nation as they finished fourth in the race, behind three schools currently ranked in the top 25 nationally in the relay. Palmer followed that up by running 24.89 in the 200m dash, posting the sixth-best time overall in the OVC this year and the top 200m time by a freshman sprinter in the league.


 
Wilson etched his name into the Little Rock record books twice last weekend as the Trojans competed at the 40th Annual Victor Lopez Classic hosted by Rice. In the shot put, Wilson's throw of 15.56m registered the second-best throw in school history as he entered a mark that ranks sixth in the OVC this year, finishing third in the competitive meet. Then in the discus throw, Wilson recorded a mark of 41.52m (136-3), which ranks 10th in the OVC this year and sixth-best in school history as he finished 18th overall.
Little Rock will take this week off to prepare for the Little Rock Invitational, set for April 6-7 at the Coleman Sports Complex in the Capital City. Friday's action (April 7) can be seen on ESPN+ starting at 1 p.m.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Track & Field, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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