May 14, 2008

ST. LOUIS - A pair of University of Northern Iowa senior hurdlers have swept the Missouri Valley Conference's weekly awards for track athletes, with Jarrel Anderson named State Farm MVC Men's Track Athlete of the Week and Kara Yahn earning State Farm MVC Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors, the league announced Wednesday.

 

The award is the second conference accolade in as many weeks for Anderson, who lowered his conference-leading time in the 110-meter hurdles to 13.89 seconds over the weekend.

 

The Houston, Texas, native twice improved his previous MVC-leading mark at last Saturday's Wisconsin Twilight meet, running 14.03 in the preliminaries before laying down his wind-aided time of 13.89 in the finals to take the win.

 

The time has Anderson, who did not compete outdoors in his first season with UNI in 2007, ranked sixth in the NCAA's Midwest Region in the event.

 

Yahn posted The Valley's top time of the weekend - and third-fastest time of the year - in the 100-meter hurdles with her clocking of 13.91 seconds at the Wisconsin Twilight. The mark also qualified Yahn for NCAA regional competition in the 100 hurdles for the second-consecutive year.

 

A six-time All-MVC performer, Yahn seeks this week to improve on her runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles from last year's MVC Outdoor Championships.

 

The 2008 edition of the State Farm MVC Outdoor Championships gets underway Friday (May 16) in Carbondale, Ill. UNI's men seek their second-consecutive outdoor league title, while the Panther women are looking for the first-ever MVC outdoor crown after winning the conference indoor championship in March.