CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  The Big South Conference released the Track & Field Athletes of the Week awards on Thursday afternoon, as four Panthers received honors. Two athletes from the men's team and two athletes from the women's team were selected as Athletes of the Week for their performances at the Virginia Tech Invite held at Virginia Tech last weekend.

For the men, Ricardo Montes de Oca earned his second Big South award in a row and was named the Big South Field of the Week after surpassing his previous record from a week ago at 5.33m; Montes de Oca soared over multiple bars to clear 5.57m and place first overall. The 5.57m clearance is the High Point, Big South, and Venezuelan National indoor records and is currently tied for the second-best height in NCAA. Tim Brown wins Freshman of the Week for the second time this season after his performance in the 400 and the men's 4x400m relay. Brown broke the 400m record with a time of 47.63 on Saturday, then helped the team break the 4x400m record with 3:11.22.
 
On the women's side, Rachel Vesper earned her first Big South Field Athlete of the Week honor this season after a 3.86m clearance at the Virginia Tech Invite. On Friday, her mark earned second place in the women's pole vault section. Quiana Williams earned her second Big South Freshman of the Week and her first Track Athlete of the Week award for her performance in the 60m dash. Williams placed 2nd overall with a time of 7.51 seconds, breaking the women's indoor record.

UP NEXT: High Point will compete at the 5th Annual Brant Tolsma Invitational at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, on January 23-25.