ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 26) — Two Central Washington University indoor track and field standouts—senior Becki Duhamel, from Wenatchee, and sophomore Armando Tafoya, Quincy—were named the women's and men's Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Athlete of the Week for the period of January 19-25.
 
Duhamel posted the second-best marks in GNAC history in both the shot put (45-11 1/4) and weight throw (57-0 1/4) finishing second and third, respectively, in those events Friday at the Idaho Collegiate, at the University of Idaho in Moscow. 
 
"I was pretty pumped for the meet," she said. "I woke up in a mood that 'It's going to happen today.' There was a lot of drilling [last] week and not so much heavy throwing. So, when I was ready to do some heavy throwing, it was all there." 
 
Duhamel's marks were the conference's best since 2009 when Central's Krissy Tandle set the GNAC record in the shot put (48-9 1/2) and since 2004 when Kristen Hepler, from Western Oregon University, set the standard in the weight throw with a mark of 58-2 1/2.
 
"When I checked her marks on the national list, both of those put her into the top 16 currently," noted Kevin Adkisson, CWU head track and field coach. "It's very exciting to see her getting up to that [national] level, which is a great place to be right now. But we know, from experience, that she is going to have to continue to improve those marks to stay in the top 16."
 
Duhamel will need to stay in that elite group to be eligible to compete at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Championship, March 13-14, in Birmingham, Ala.
 
Tafoya is looking to get into that select group. And he's getting closer, after posting the best mark in the GNAC this winter in the weight throw with a toss of 56-1 1/4. That was just a quarter inch shy of the provisional national qualifying standard. Also at the Idaho Collegiate, he launched a put for 47-9 1/4 in the shot and finished third in both events.
 
"Last year was a rebuilding year to get used to the new throwing style I'm learning," Tafoya acknowledged, adding he expects to continue to improve throughout the indoor season. "The strength is there but technique is the thing I need to work on the most."
 
Adkisson pointed out, "He did his work last year [as a freshman] and the progress he made then is really showing in his second year to competition."
 
A select group of CWU indoor track and field athletes will participate at the University of Washington Invitational in Seattle Friday. The next full-squad meet for the Wildcats will be at the Washington State University Cougar Indoor in Pullman, Wash., in two weeks.
 
The GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held February 20-21 at the Idaho Center in Nampa.