PORTLAND, Ore. – Sam Zook and Michaela Johnson have been named the GNAC Track Athletes of the Week after a great start to the indoor season last Saturday in Bozeman.
 
Zook started the season with a blazing 6.78 in the 60-meter and a first place finish at the Bobcat Preview. The mark broke his previous school record and is tied for the second fastest time in GNAC history. This is the fourth time Zook has been named Athlete of the Week after receiving the nod twice during the 2017 indoor season and once during the 2017 outdoor season.
 
"We knew that he might run a time like that but it is not something that you expect to have happen in the first meet," head coach Jonathan Woehl said of Zook's new record. "It was a great surprised and a testament to the training that he and our other guys are doing. You're not typically race-ready at the first meet of the season so for him to put down a time like that is pretty amazing."  
 
Johnson earned her first Athlete of the Week honor after running a 9.37 in the 60-meter hurdles. She finished just on one-hundredth behind the second place finisher in the race as Montana State occupied the top two spots. Johnson holds the MSUB record in the event with her time of 8.96 last season. The Billings native won all-conference recognition after her freshman season in 2017.
 
"I think it is a great starting point for Michaela, that would have been a record last year but she has raised the bar for herself," Woehl noted. "I wouldn't be surprised to see her get her time down after getting a few more races under her belt. She could have the chance to run two or three times in some of our upcoming meets and I think that will get her around nine seconds or under heading into conference."
 
In the field, Central Washington swept the Athlete of the Week honors with Kodiak Landis representing the men and Ali Anderson leading the women.
 
The Yellowjackets will be back in action on January 12, when they head back to Bozeman for the Montana State University Invitational. Official results can be found on the Track and Field Results Reporting System.