Brooklyn, N.Y. – A pair of LIU Brooklyn jumpers have earned Northeast Conference Field Athlete of the Week awards. Senior Jessie Gaines and junior Brian Richards were both honored after superb leaps at the Metropolitan Championships.

Gaines is the NEC Field Athlete of the Week for the second week in a row, honored this week for her excellence in the long jump. The three-time NEC Indoor MVP leaped to a first-place finish at the Metropolitan Championships by producing a personal record bound of 6.16m.  The mark puts Gaines atop both the NEC performance list and the LIU Brooklyn record book.  Gaines surpassed senior Jazmin Waller, who set the program standard at 6.11m earlier in the season. Gaines' winning jump at the Mets ranks 10th overall on the NCAA Division I leader board.

Richards increased his lead over the NEC in the long jump. Bounding his way to the Metropolitan Championship crown, the third-year Blackbird registered a winning mark of 7.50m, and now ranks 22nd on the NCAA Division I leader board.  His latest leap marks a 37-centimeter improvement over the second-place performance he turned in at the 2011 NEC Indoor Championships.

The Blackbirds are back in action this weekend, Feb. 3-4 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The event takes place at the Armory in New York, N.Y.