Privateers trio Atkins, Gvero, Shannon sweep Southland indoor weekly honors

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans track & field program almost made it a clean sweep after a record-setting performance at the Samford Invitational No. 2 this past weekend as three Privateers were named Southland Conference Athlete of the Week in their respective discipline, the conference offices announced on Wednesday. Shanell Atkins was selected as the Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, Vojislav Gvero won the Men’s Field Athlete of the Week award and Shamarah Shannon claimed the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week honor after each etched their name into the UNO record book.

In just her third meet at New Orleans, Atkins has taken over the performance list in Privateers history as she rebroke the school record with a personal-best toss of 19.05-meters (62-06.00) in the weight throw. It is the second consecutive meet in which Atkins has set the school record in the event.

The mark ranks 54th in all of NCAA Division I Track & Field and leads the Southland Conference. Atkins finished fourth overall in the weight and added a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 13.69-meters (44-11.00).

Another program record went down in the men’s weight throw as Vojislav Gvero set the new top spot in New Orleans history with a best heave of 18.71-meters (61-04.75). The performance claimed the victory in the event and ranks 88th in all of NCAA DI. It also tops the Southland.

Gvero also added a 13th-place finish in the shot put with a best of 13.37m (43-10.50).

Shannon tripled up for the first time this season and put on a show as she won both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 7.71 and 24.61, respectively. She now leads the Southland in the 200 and is third overall in the 60. The showing in the 200 this past weekend was the second-best time recorded in school history. Shannon also ran a leg of the Privateers seventh-place finishing 4×400-meter relay team.

“I am proud of how the Track and Field program is moving forward,” director Brian Johnson said. “We have athletes such as Shanell, Shamarah and Vojislav doing big things to help us become a championship program. I am so excited to see how they progress in two weeks when we compete at the Southland Indoor Championships.”

Atkins has now won the Southland weekly honor in back-to-back competing weeks while Gvero and Shannon earned the award for the first time in their careers as Privateers.

New Orleans is set for the Southland Indoor Championships on Sunday, Feb. 28 through Monday, March 1 at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.

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