WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - In just the first week of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field season, Monmouth University men's standout thrower Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) excelled over his  conference peers in earning the first Road Runner Sports NEC Men's Field Athlete of the Week honor of the young season.

Coming off a double victory in the shot put and weight throw at the NEC Indoor Championships last month, Elardo showed no signs of slowing in his first meet of outdoor season. The reigning NEC Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Indoor Championships and All-East honoree won both the hammer throw and discus and placed second in the shot put at the Georgian Court Lion Opener in Lakewood, N.J.  Elardo surpassed the qualifying standard for the IC4A Championships in one throwing event.  He threw the hammer 57.22m (187' 9") to punch his ticket to the regional championship meet, which is set for May 14-16.

Elardo currently leads the NEC in both discus and hammer throw and sits behind only Lundy in shot put to start the early outdoor season atop the NEC in almost all throws events. The junior Hawk earned his third NEC weekly award of the 2009-10 season and the fifth of his career.

Monmouth is set to host its only outdoor meet of the 2010 season on Friday and Saturday, March 26-27 when it hosts the 15th Annual Monmouth Season Opener on the E. Murray Todd Track at Kessler Field. Friday's weight throwing events start at 2:00 p.m. while all other events start on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.