Price named National Athlete of the Week; two others honored by MVC

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By Sean Carley, @SCarleyDE

One Saluki thrower took home a national award while two of her teammates were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference.

Senior DeAnna Price was named Tuesday the Women’s Division I National Athlete of the Week by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Senior thrower Josh Freeman was named MVC Male Field Athlete of the Week and junior runner Ashanna Hodge is the MVC Female Track Athlete of the Week.

At the Auburn Tiger Track Classic on Friday, Price recorded a 72.48-meter throw, which is the third-longest in outdoor collegiate history and was an Auburn facility record.

The reigning national champion came up 3 centimeters short of the outdoor school record of 72.51 set by former Saluki Brittany Riley in 2007.

Her performance was not a one-trial show, as the toss before her 72-meter throw went 71.88 meters — just the second time a woman has thrown more than 71.5 meters twice in the same event. The other time belongs to collegiate record-holder Jenny Dahlgren of Georgia.

Price’s throw is the longest this season by any collegiate athlete, more than 5 meters longer than the second-place throw of 67.04 meters.

The Moscow Mills, Mo., native also finished in sixth at the Tiger Track Classic in the discus throw with a 47.55-meter toss.

Freeman won the shot put event at the meet with a top mark of 19.60 meters and came in third for discus with a 55.91-meter throw.

With these results, Freeman leads the MVC in both the discus and the shot put and is third in the nation overall in shot put.

Hodge came in second at Auburn in the 400-meter hurdle event, clocking in at 59.18 seconds.

Her mark is the third-best in school history and leads the MVC this season.

Price, Freeman and Hodge will try to improve their marks Saturday at the Missouri Quad in Columbia, Mo.

Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-536-3307.

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