Feb. 11, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ---- The Samford University track and field team dominated the Southern Conference Athlete of the Week honors this week. Three Bulldogs were awarded the honor - juniors Hillary Neal and Patrick Wells and freshman Laura Bedsole. The weekly honors are voted on by league coaches.

Neal won the 800 meters at the Middle Tennessee State Invitational last weekend. Her time of 2:12.75 currently leads the conference.

Bedsole set a personal best in the pole vault, clearing a height of 11-6. It was the second-best mark in school history.

This is the first time that Samford has captured either of the weekly honors on the women's side.

Patrick Wells was honored as the Field Athlete of the Week after matching his indoor personal best in the pole vault with a leap of 16-0 at the Middle Tennessee State Invitational. He took first placed and helped Samford grabbed the top three spots in the vault for the second straight week.

Wells is the second Bulldog to grab the men's weekly honor after Michael Seaman was named Field Athlete of the Week two weeks ago.

Redshirt senior Cameron Bean, who took first place in the mile run at the Middle Tennessee State Invitational, was also up for the men's track honor. His time of 4:17.60 improved his personal best by 13 seconds.

"It's really great when you enter athletes into the weekly contest and your peers think your athletes are deserving of votes," Samford Head Coach Rod Tiffin said. "You never really know how it is going to come out, but it's really exciting when they are honored.

"I think we are really close to having a really good team and those kinds of things show that. We have a program now that we are really proud of but a few more great recruiting classes could take that pride to a different level."

The Bulldogs return to action Friday when they travel to Clemson, S.C. to compete in the Tiger Paw Invitational