BOSTON - After opening the outdoor season at the UCF Black & Gold Challenge this past weekend in Florida, UMBC men's track & field earned a pair of America East weekly awards. Iosif Papa was named the conference's Field Athlete of the Week, while Jacob Martin took home Rookie of the Week honors. 

Martin, a freshman from Derwood, Md. clocked a time of 1:50.55 in the 800 at the event, placing seventh. Martin's time is the second-fastest in the conference in the young outdoor season, and pushed him onto UMBC's all-time performance list, ranking sixth. Martin's time is currently good for 22nd in Division I. 

Papa, a senior from Nicosia, Cyprus, had a historic opening weekend for the Retrievers, winning the discus throw with a 59.86-meter toss. Papa broke his own program record and took over the top spot in Division I in the event to this point in the season. Papa's 59.86m mark bested LSU's Chad Hendricks (59.58m) for the Division I lead in the early portion of the season. 

UMBC returns to competition on Saturday at the Dan Stimson Memorial Invitational hosted by William & Mary.