WHITEFISH, Mont. – Three Montana Tech track & field athletes were named Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Track & Field Athletes of the Week. Payton Cates, Edwin Kipainoi, and Carlin Manning receive this week's conference awards.

All three competed at the first outdoor meet of the season in Missoula. The University of Montana was the host for the Al Manuel Invitational at Dornblaser Field. Despite winter conditions, the Montana Tech teams led all of the teams participating from the Frontier Conference.

Cates, a freshman from Ronan, Montana, is the Frontier Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Cates finished in second place out of four jumpers in the high jump in a field of NCAA Division I and NAIA competitors. He had a mark of 1.96 meters and has the fifth best jump in the NAIA this season.

Kipainoi, a junior from Kajiado, Kenya, is the Frontier Conference Men's Track Athlete of the Week. Kipainoi finished first in the 5000 meter run in a field of nine runners with a time of 15:06.67. Kipainoi broke the school record with a converted time of 14:54 and just missed the NAIA B standard by five seconds. His time is 15^th in the NAIA this season.

Manning, a sophomore from Kalispell, Montana, is the Frontier Conferences Women's Track Athlete of the Week. Manning won the 3000 meter steeplechase in a field of six runners. Her time of 12:12.92 is the 12^th fastest time in the NAIA this season.