STEPHENVILLE, Texas — After breaking his own school record by a tenth of a meter, Tarleton State senior pole vaulter Jacob Thomas was named the WAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday afternoon.

In just the second week of Texan competitions, it marks the third Texan weekly honor of the season. Thomas is the second Texan man to be tabbed the field athlete of the week, joining Lokesh Sathyanathan. Also in the first week, Sofia DeGroot was named the women's field athlete of the week. It marks Thomas' second WAC weekly award in his career, the first during the indoor slate.

Thomas placed second and broke his own school record in the pole vault at the Corky Classic last Saturday. The senior also placed second in the event. He cleared his first two attempts at 4.73 meters and 4.88 meters on the first try. His next bar was set at 5.03 meters, a tenth above the school record he set last season at 5.02 meters. He cleared it on his second attempt, one of four vaulters in the competition to clear that bar. 

The Taft, Texas, native, is competing in his third season for the Texans after starting his collegiate career at Abilene Christian. He earned Second Team All-WAC honors last season at the 2025 WAC Indoor Championships in the pole vault. Last year he won a pair of outdoor pole vault titles at the Clyde Hart Classic and SMU Invite.

Tarleton State Track and Field will be back in action this weekend with two meets in two days. The Texans will compete at the JD Martin Invitational in Oklahoma on Thursday and the Stan Scott Invite at Texas Tech on Friday.