DENVER – Idaho’s Liga Velvere and Nevada’s La Tijera Avery were named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5.

Velvere, a junior from Saldus, Latvia (Latvian Academy of Sport Education), broke one school record, won two events and added a runner-up finish at the Vandal Indoor and the Idaho Indoor Open last weekend. At the Vandal Indoor, she claimed the women’s 800-meters with a time of 2:07.63, to break the six-year-old Idaho school record by a two-second margin. Her time leads the WAC by more than three seconds and ranks 23rd in the NCAA this season. She also ran the anchor leg of Idaho’s 4x400-meter relay team. At the Idaho Indoor Open, Velvere finished second in the 400-meters (55.70) and took fifth in the 200-meters (25.85).

Avery, a senior from Inglewood, Calif. (Culver City HS), used a personal best in the high jump to claim second place at the New Balance Invitational last weekend. She opened the event with a jump of 1.75-meters (5 feet, 8.75 inches), only a centimeter below her previous personal record. After missing on her first two attempts at 1.80-meters, Avery blew over the bar on the third attempt. Her mark of 1.80m (5-10.75) ties her for 13th nationally. Avery got her first looks at a 6-foot (1.83-meter) bar during an indoor season, but was ultimately unsuccessful on her attempts.