Putnam, Latham Earn NEC Weekly Awards

Junior Dashawn Putman and freshman Tyler Latham were honored by the Northeast Conference for their performances on the track and field this past Saturday at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Putman was named the NEC Men's Field Athlete of the Week and Latham earned NEC Men's Rookie of the Week honors, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon.

Tuning up for his NEC Indoor Track and Field Championships debut next weekend, Putman contested the high jump at the BU Valentine Invitational on Saturday. The Saint Peter's U transfer cleared 1.95 meters for the third time in the last month of competition to score a tied for seventh-place finish at BU's annual meet. The result was also the best finish by any Blue Devil on the day.

Latham appears to be peaking just in time for the 2015 NEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The rookie registered a huge career-best time in the 200 meter dash at the meet on Saturday. The Mystic product clocked in at 22.22, coming in 0.02 seconds under the automatic qualifying standard for the IC4A Championships in March. The time also earned him a 50th place overall finish out of 202 competitors at the meet. Latham currently sits in a tie for 10th place on the NEC performance list for what could be the deepest event in the conference this season.

The men's indoor track and field team will return to action with the Northeast Conference Championships on Feb. 21-22. The championships will take place at Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, MD. Fans can view the 2015 Northeast Conference Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship page here. Highlights and interviews from the championship will be posted after the races on NECFrontRow.com.