USTFCCCA News & Notes
NAIA XC National Athletes of the Week (Sept. 22)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Here are the NAIA Men’s & Women’s Cross Country National Athletes of the Week, as released on Wednesday afternoon by the NAIA National Office.
Men’s Athlete of the Week
Shimales Abebe, Oklahoma City
Shimales Abebe from Oklahoma City University became the only runner among the top 20 finishers not from a DI team in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree. He took a 17th-place finish after completing the 8,000-meter race in 24 minutes, 11.1 seconds. He finished in front of runners from NCAA DI power programs Northern Arizona, Texas and Colorado. OCU placed 12th ahead of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Christian, UMKC and Clarendon (Texas).
Women’s National Athlete of the Week
Alyssa Armendariz, Saint Mary (Kan.)
Alyssa Armendariz placed 18th at the Missouri Southern State Stampede on Saturday, among several NCAA division competitors. She was the top finisher for the Spires running in a time of 17:48, to help the team to a 13th place finish out of 26 squads.