BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University senior mid-distance runner David Willis has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Male Track Athlete of the Week following his performance at the Tennessee Sea Ray Relays in which he ran an OVC-best time in the 800 meters and was a member of the winning men’s distance medley relay team.

Willis finished third in the men’s unseeded 800 meters on Saturday with a personal-best time of 1:54.36, less than second ahead of Eastern Illinois’ Graham Morris atop of the OVC list in that event. The Fort Mill, S.C. native then joined fellow senior Kristopher Hawkins and sophomores Soufiane Bouchikhi and Victor Kemboi to win the men’s distance medley relay with a time of 10:14.93.

It is the first career OVC weekly award for Willis, who has finished sixth in the 800 meters at the last two OVC Outdoor Championships. He is the third Colonel to be named OVC Track Athlete of the Week this outdoor season, as Bouchikhi and senior Kat Pagano were named Male and Female Track Athletes of the Week, respectively, on March 29 following their performances at the Stanford Invitational.

Other winners this week include Jacksonville State's Laveeta Oliver (Female Track Athlete of the Week), Southeast Missouri's Brandon Colbert (Male Field Athlete of the Week) and Southeast Missouri's Brianna Egbuka (Female Field Athlete of the Week).

The EKU track and field team returns to action this weekend at the Indiana Hoosier Invitational.