GORHAM, Maine – Senior Christian Burke (York, Maine) and the Southern Maine distance medley relay team of freshman Conner Smith (Durham, Maine/Freeport), junior Cyrus Evans (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue), freshman Gavin Gerry (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and senior Michael Cyr (Caribou, Maine) have earned weekly awards from the Little East Conference for their performances at the Bates Invitational and Multi. Burke was named the LEC Field Athlete of the Week while the distance medley squad earned the Relay Team of the Week honor.
 
Burke set a new personal-best in the heptathlon with 4656 points to place first in the event. His score ranks 10th in NCAA Division III this season and second in the East region behind teammate Michael D'Amico (Belgrade Lakes, Maine/Messalonskee) who had 4701 points at the Elm City Classic in December. Burke had a dominant performance with first-place finishes in four of the seven events, the pole vault (4.25m), high jump (1.89m), long jump (6.27m) and the 60-meter dash (7.32 seconds), plus a second-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 11.07m. He also set new personal-bests in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.02 seconds and the 1000 meters at 3:11.75.
 
The distance medley team placed third with a time of 11:15.94 at Saturday's meet. Their converted time of 11:06.89 ranks fourth in the East region and 23rd nationally. The group is the second USM relay team to earn the conference's weekly award joining the 4x400 group that earned the honor in December.
The Huskies are off next weekend and will return to action on Saturday, January 31 with some athletes competing at the Boston University Terrier Classic and the bulk of the lineup staying in Gorham for the Husky Invitational.