March 25, 2009

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine junior Lauren Collins and freshman Charles Jock have earned Big West Conference Athlete of the Week honors.

Collins was named the women's field Athlete of the Week after scoring a school-record total of 5,549 points in winning the heptathlon at the Northridge Spring Break Open last Thursday and Friday. That total ranked seventh in the world this year as of Monday.

She broke her own school record of 5,512 points set in 2007.

Jock, who was selected as the conference's male track Athlete of the Week, won the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.18 in the Spring Break Invitational at Anteater Stadium last Saturday.

That mark is fourth-best in school history and the fastest by a UCI runner in 21 years. The time qualifies him for the NCAA West Regional at Eugene, Ore., May 29-30.

UCI competes in the Cal/Nevada Championships at UCLA Saturday and Sunday, and also has eight competitors at the Stanford Invitational Friday and Saturday.