DALLAS – After the fourth week of 2021 indoor track competition, athletes from Marshall, Rice, WKU and UTSA earned weekly Athlete of the Week honors. UTSA’s Bashiru Abdullahi (Male Track), MaryAnn Adebayo of Marshall (Female Field), Kaison Barton of WKU (Male Field) and Rice’s Grace Forbes (Female Track) were selected for C-USA honors, presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
 
C-USA Female Track Athlete of the Week – Grace Forbes, Rice, So., Wallingford, Pa.
Forbes broke both the meet and school record and set the fifth-fastest time in the NCAA this season in the 5000 meters at Texas A&M’s Charlie Thomas Invitational on February 6. The sophomore from Wallingford, Pennsylvania took the gold medal with a time of 15:50.38 in her season debut. The mark broke the previous Rice record of 16:03.13 (Becky Wade – 2012) and smashed the previous meet record of 16:13.71.
 
C-USA Female Field Athlete of the Week – MaryAnn Adebayo, Marshall, Jr., Hedgesville, W.Va.
Adebayo took gold in the weight throw and placed third in the shot put at the Marshall Classic. In the weight throw, her mark of 18.31 meters (60’1”) set a 2021 Conference USA best in the event by nearly two feet. She also captured the bronze medal in the shot put with a 12.51 meters (40’0.50’) effort. The junior from Hedgesville, West Virginia accounted for 15 points of Marshall’s meet-winning team total, and she picked up her third career gold medal in the weight throw.
 
C-USA Male Track Athlete of the Week – Bashiru Abdullahi, UTSA, Jr., Benin City, Nigeria
Abdullahi earned his second C-USA Male Track Athlete of the Week award of the season after he tied his own school record in the 60-meter hurdles at Texas A&M’s Charlie Thomas Invitational on February 6 with a time that tied for eighth best nationally. The junior from Benin City, Nigeria clocked a time of 7.80 seconds, which is tops in C-USA this season and was good for the bronze medal in the event.
 
C-USA Male Field Athlete of the Week – Kaison Barton, WKU, Fr., Semmes, Ala.
At the South Alabama Jaguar Invitational in Mobile, Alabama, Barton took the bronze medal in the shot put with a 16.18-meter effort (53’1”) and was seventh in the weight throw event (16.13 meters; 52’11”). His shot put mark is third in C-USA this season, and his weight throw performance is fifth in the league to date. The freshman from Semmes, Alabama is one of two C-USA throwers with top-five conference marks in the weight throw and shot put.
 
2021 C-USA Female Track Athletes of the Week
J20      Marisha Thompson, Florida Atlantic
J27      Alexis Williams, WKU
F3        Chante Dixon, UTSA
F10       Grace Forbes, Rice
 
2021 C-USA Female Field Athletes of the Week
J20      Ingeborg Gruenwald, UTSA
J27      Bailey Ashmore, North Texas
F3        Rhea Thompson, Louisiana Tech
F10       MaryAnn Adebayo, Marshall
 
2021 C-USA Male Track Athletes of the Week
J20      Bashiru Abdullahi, UTSA
J27      Trey Johnson, Southern Miss
F3        Austin Carroll, Charlotte
F10      Bashiru Abdullahi, UTSA
 
2021 C-USA Male Field Athletes of the Week
J20      Chris Samaniego, North Texas
J27      Corvell Todd, Southern Miss
F3        Kendall Artis, Charlotte
F10       Kaison Barton, WKU