WKU Track & Field freshman thrower Kaison Barton earned his first career Conference USA Male Field Athlete of the Week honors, the league announced Wednesday afternoon.

At the Jaguar Invitational over the weekend, Barton finished third in shot put with a mark of 16.18 meters and seventh in weight throw with a mark of 16.13 meters. In each one of his collegiate meets thus far, he has improved his marks in both shot put and weight throw.

In his very first collegiate outing, the Semmes, Ala., native threw 15.37 meters in shot put. In his next meet, throwing coach and Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Brent Chumbley entered Barton in both indoor throwing events. Barton threw 15.69 meters in the shot and 16.04 meters in weight throw.

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Barton’s most recent throws at South Alabama are good for third in the league in shot put and fifth in weight throw. In the shot put event, he finished ahead of the next C-USA opponent by 1.25 meters. Behind his own teammate, Brett Brannon, in weight throw, he finished ahead of every other C-USA competitor by almost 1.5 meters.

Out of all male throwers in C-USA, Barton is one of two in the conference that has marks in the top-five in both weight throw and shot put. Chris Samaniego of North Texas holds the second-best throws in both events but has not recorded those marks since mid-January.

WKU Track & Field is gearing up for one final regular season indoor meet at Samford on Friday. The team will return to Birmingham on Feb. 20-21 for the Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Sports Editor Nick Kieser can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Nick on Twitter at @KieserNick.