Chris Benard named Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week

Arizona State University track and field senior Chris Benard has been named the Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week, the conference announced, April 10.

The Pac-12 Conference bestows the honor upon the top men's and women's athletes on a particular week in both the track and field portions of the sport of track and field.

Benard opened the outdoor triple jump season with a career outdoor-best leap of 16.38m (53-09.00) and a victory in the event at the 33rd Sun Angel Classic, April 7. The mark was good for third on ASU's all-time best list. It was the first jump of over 53 feet since 2006 and just the second since 1999. The mark also put Benard second on the NCAA descending order list for the current 2012 season.

In addition, Benard won the long jump with a career-best jump of 7.75m (25-05.25) and the fifth-best mark in the nation so far this year. That jump sits just outside ASU’s prestigious top-10 list by only a couple centimeters.

The senior out of Corona, Calif., is the returning NCAA Indoor runner-up in the triple jump.  It was the first athlete of the week honor for Bernard, who will return to action this weekend at the Arizona State Tri-Meet on April 14.