By Tom Saxe -

The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference has selected Palomar College soccer player Gabriel DaSilva Duarte and Southwestern football player George Bell as Men’s Athletes of the Week.

Duarte, a freshman from Brazil, scored both of Palomar’s goals in the first-place Comets’ 2-0 victory over Southwestern. He followed that up with a goal as the Comets defeated MiraCosta 4-1.Bell, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound sophomore receiver from San Diego High School, caught nine passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars’ 42-38 loss to San Bernardino Valley.

Honorable mention for the week went to Southwestern cross country runner Dahir Mohamed, San Diego Mesa cross country runner Deng Akuien, San Diego City College soccer player German Sanchez and Southwestern football player Steven Carroll.

Sept. 27 PCAC Co-Athlete of the Week Mohamed, coming off the individual title at the Mt. SAC Invitational, ran to first place in the conference finals at Morley Field in Balboa Park, clocking a 20:57.49 for 5.0 miles. Akuien, a freshman from San Diego High School, led the Olympians to the PCAC team title, running a 22:28.70 for sixth place. He led a Mesa pack that finished 6-7-9-11-12-13-16-18 in the race. Sanchez, a freshman goalkeeper from Point Loma High School, recorded six saves as City College, which is two points behind Palomar in the PCAC standings, downed Cuyamaca 3-0 to remain unbeaten in the conference. He has a 1.091 goals-against average. Carroll, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound sophomore from Oceanside High School and a transfer from Palomar, was 26-for-37 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions for 428 yards passing against San Bernardino. One of his touchdowns was an 81-yard strike to George Bell.

An individual may only receive PCAC Athlete of the Week honors once in his sport’s season. Athletes are eligible to be honored even if the PCAC does not sponsor competition in their sports. Southwestern plays football in the Mountain Conference.