Kingsville - After a red-hot start to the new year at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational in Houston on Saturday, which featured numerous excellent performances, Texas A&M-Kingsville women's and men's track and field athletes brought home three of the Lone Star Conference's Athlete of the Week awards.

Sophomore Oneika Brissett brought was named the LSC's Women's Track Athlete of the Week, Trevor Upton was named the LSC' Men's Field Athlete of the Week, while the men's 4x400m relay crew of senior Tony Benitez, graduate student Michael Samihamba, sophomore Darius Bouakel, and sophomore Jacob Swierc combined to nab the LSC's Track Athlete of the Week award.

Brissett had a fantastic start to 2026 on Saturday, running a 56:11 in the 400m, the new ninth-best time in D2 so far this season, before following it up by running the anchor leg of TAMUK's 4x400m team (made up entirely of underclassmen), which ran a 3:53.46, which is the 16th-fastest time run in the event so far this season. Brissett earned Indoor Track and Field First Team All-Conference and All-American last year with TAMUK Women's 4X400m team.

Upton cleared a bar set at 16'0.75'' (4.90m) in the pole vault, which is not only the ninth-highest vault in program history, but is also tied for the 12th-best clearance in the nation so far this season. This is Upton's first time earning an Athlete of the Week award in his young college career.

Benitez, Swierc, Bouakel, and Samihamba combined to run a 3:15.29 in the 4x400m relay, which not only won the event but was also enough to get them the 12th-best time in the nation and the new eighth-best time in school history. Benitez also earned Indoor Track and Field First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-American last year with TAMUK Men's 4X400m team. It will be the first LSC weekly honors for the rest of the team.

The teams' next opportunity to hit the oval will come in 11 days when they go to the first Fastrak Collegiate Invitational in Houston (Jan 24th).