compliments of www.ustfccca.org
NEW ORLEANS – Spring has definitely sprung.
Here are our M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for April 11, 2023!
- NCAA Division I Men – Mykolas Alekna, California
- NCAA Division I Women – Jorinde van Klinken, Oregon
- NCAA Division II Men – Isaac Bostio, West Texas A&M
- NCAA Division II Women – DeOndra Green, West Texas A&M
- NCAA Division III Men – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
- NCAA Division III Women – Emma Kelley, Washington (Mo.)
- NAIA Men – Saminu Abdul-Rasheed, Florida Memorial
- NAIA Women – Jennifer Batu, Life (Ga.)
- NJCAA Men – Joel Gardner, Pima (Ariz.) CC
- NJCAA Women – Ese Awusa, New Mexico JC
- NJCAA DIII Men – Sie'ntez Lerma, Mineral Area (Mo.)
- NJCAA DIII Women – Taylor Harvey, Mohawk Valley (N.Y.) CC
Find out more about each of these athletes by scrolling below.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 14 collegiate cross country athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and the NJCAA).
Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.
The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors will also play a role in the decision.
Sophomore | Sprints | Ghana
Saminu Abdul-Rasheed flashed his speed twice at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational – in both cases, he moved to No. 2 in NAIA history.
First up was the 100 meters, which Abdul-Rasheed won in 10.04 into a -0.3mps wind to win by 0.11 seconds. The only NAIA athlete faster is Azusa Pacific's Davidson Ezinwa, who ran 9.91 in 1992.
Abdul-Rasheed got much closer to the NAIA record in the 200, clocking 20.50 with 0.1mps wind to win his section and finish second overall. That was just off the 20.48 run by Phemelo Matlhabe of Life (Ga.) last year.
This is Abdul-Rasheed's second time this year being named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. He is the first male athlete from Florida Memorial to earn the honor in outdoor track & field.
His mark of 10.04 seconds in the 100 meters marks the sixth fastest time in the entire world.
NAIA WOMEN – Jennifer Batu, Life (Ga.)
Sophomore | Throws | Republic of the Congo
The final hammer throw effort by Jennifer Batu at the Kennesaw State Invitational was the longest of her collegiate career, and that's not all.
Batu's heave of 58.82m (193-0) gave her second place in the meet and moved her to No. 3 on the NAIA all-time list with the longest NAIA mark since 2017. Batu is the national record holder for the Republic of the Congo with a mark of 66.43m (217-11) from 2018.
Batu is the first female athlete from Life to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
