Illinois State's Brittany Smith has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Female Field Athlete of the Week. (Photo courtesy GoRedbirds.com)

By WJBC Staff

ST. LOUIS - Illinois State senior thrower Brittany Smith was named the Missouri Valley Conference Female Field Athlete of the Week by the league office Tuesday.

The six-time All-American kicked-off the 2012-13 indoor track & field season in record-setting fashion. On her first attempt of the weight throw competition at the Redbird Open (Dec. 8), Smith launched the implement a staggering 70-07.00 (21.51m), one foot, three inches further than her previous career- and school-record mark of 69-04.00 (21.13m), claiming first on the day. She later followed with another first-place finish in the shot put, with a mark of 54-06.00 (16.61m), the furthest season-opener of her career.

Those marks rank her second in the nation in the weight throw, and eighth in the nation in the shot put, while holding the No. 2 spot in the Valley in both events.

This past weekend at the annual dual meet against Indiana State, Smith took on the Sycamores' Felisha Johnson, who holds the No. 1 collegiate throws this season in both the weight throw (75-03.25 / 22.94m) and shot put (57-03.75 / 17.47m), respectively. In the weight throw, Smith took the top spot on the day, throwing 69-09.75 (21.28m), two feet, four and one-half inches further than that of Johnson (67-05.25 / 20.55m). However, it was Johnson who came out on top in the shot put, throwing 55-11.25 (17.05m), compared to Smith's toss of 52-06.50 (16.01m).