Coming off a successful meet last weekend in which he broke a school record, junior All-American thrower Adam Kuehl was named the Pacific 10 Conference Field Athlete of the Week for the week of April 17.
Kuehl, who registered a school-record distance in the discus with a mark of 63.89 meters during Friday’s Mesa Classic, “”definitely”” deserved the award, said Arizona track and field head coach Fred Harvey.
“”Any time you have one of the top throwers in the country, and top throwers in the world, I would suspect he would be honored,”” Harvey said.
Kuehl, whose record-breaking throw is also the No. 8 throw all-time in the Pac-10 and No. 8-best in the world this year, said the conditions were perfect on Friday for such a feat.
“”It was a good wind to throw in,”” Kuehl said. “”I was a little tight at first, but I loosened up and was feeling really good.””
Kuehl, who is the first Wildcat to receive this honor so far this outdoor season, said he was not surprised when he heard that he was awarded.
“” I was so happy from breaking the school record, it kind of completed the whole weekend,”” Kuehl said.
He was glad to receive the honor.
“”It feels really good,”” Kuehl said. “”Hopefully I’ll get one or two more before I am done with the season.””
Harvey said he also hopes to see other Wildcats, like senior thrower Sean Shields and senior All-American distance runner Robert Cheseret, receive athlete of the week honors as well.
“”We have a number of athletes that could do that, “”Harvey said. “”The hard thing is that the Pac-10 has so many great athletes.””