Finan Earns BIG EAST Athlete of the Week

Finan Earns BIG EAST Athlete of the WeekFinan Earns BIG EAST Athlete of the Week

April 26, 2011

CINCINNATI - In the 2011 season's final BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field weekly awards, University of Cincinnati track star Eric Finan was named the BIG EAST Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.

"Eric Finan has been flying under the radar at the national level but not at the local level," said UC track and field head coach Bill Schnier. "Every week he makes progress and soon he will look the best in the entire nation directly in the eye. This home-grown product has and will make UC mighty proud."

Finan was named BIG EAST Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week after winning the 5,000-meter run at the Polytan Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. The junior broke his own school record, winning the event in a time of 13:49.80, more than four seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The mark ranks first in the BIG EAST this season, seventh in the NCAA East Region, and 17th in the country.

Cincinnati hits the road this weekend for dual meets in Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays and Oxford, Ohio for the Red Hawk Invitational.

The dual meets will be final tune-ups for the Bearcats before the BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 6-8 at Jumbo Elliott Track in Villanova, Pa.