GRAND FORKS, N.D. - North Dakota senior Jessica Butler has been named the Great West Conference Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week, announced today by the league office.

Butler established a new school record in the 60-meter hurdles at Boise State's Bronco Invitational last Saturday with a time of 8.97 seconds.

A native of Grand Rapids, Minn., Butler broke her own record she had previously set on consecutive days at the 2010 Great West Conference Indoor Championship last February. During the GWC Championship preliminaries, Butler became the first Sioux to run the 60-meter hurdles in under nine seconds, clocking in at 8.99 seconds. The following day during the finals, Butler topped her own record with a time of 8.98 seconds to win the conference title.

Other athletes nominated for this week's honors were Chicago State's Jaya Emerson, South Dakota's Kenna Wolter and Utah Valley's Olivia Kyere-Boateng.

Butler and the Fighting Sioux return to action Saturday, Jan. 29, at Iowa State's Bill Bergan Invitational.