USTFCCCA Awards
By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA January 31, 2023   

M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (Jan. 31)

NEW ORLEANS — We still can’t believe what happened this past weekend!

Here are the M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for January 31.

  • NCAA Division I Men – Drew Bosley, Northern Arizona
  • NCAA Division I Women – Katelyn Tuohy, NC State
  • NCAA Division II Men – Papay Glaywulu, Adams State
  • NCAA Division II Women – Ayana Fields, Cal Poly Pomona
  • co-NCAA Division III Men – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
  • co-NCAA Division III Men – Alex Phillip, John Carroll
  • NCAA Division III Women – Victoria Kadiri, Johns Hopkins
  • NAIA Men – Davonte Vanterpool, Southeastern (Fla.)
  • NAIA Women – Jaunita Webster-Freeman, Indiana Tech
  • NJCAA Men – Tapiwanashe Makarawu, New Mexico JC
  • NJCAA Women – Miracle Thompson, Cloud County (Kan.) 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.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Drew Bosley, Northern Arizona

Senior | Distance
Thiensville, Wisconsin

It took someone 18 years to break Alistair Cragg’s collegiate record.

That record-breaker’s record didn’t even make it one year.

Drew Bosley took down Yared Nuguse’s standard in the Men’s 3000 Meters this past weekend at the John Thomas Terrier Classic when he turned 15 laps in 7:36.42. That clipped nearly two seconds off Nuguse’s mark of 7:38.13 that he ran last February in the same building at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.

Bosley and Nuguse were actually in the same race on Friday night: Nuguse won and set an outright American record of 7:28.42 (faster than both the indoor and outdoor bests); Bosley took fifth in a loaded field. Not too far behind Bosley was Tennessee’s Yaseen Abdalla in 7:42.33 to become the sixth-fastest collegian over the distance indoors.

This is the second time in program history that an athlete from Northern Arizona has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Bosley joins Tyler Day, who was honored on January 28, 2020, following a blistering 5000-meter effort.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Katelyn Tuohy, NC State

Junior | Distance
Stony Point, New York

Jenny Barringer (now Simpson) set five collegiate records in 2009 during her Bowerman-winning year.

Of those she set indoors, just the mile remained – until Saturday.

Katelyn Tuohy, competing at the Dr. Sander Invitational/Columbia Challenge in New York, finished third in the Women’s Invitational Mile in 4:24.26. That took more than one second off Barringer’s best of 4:25.91 from 14 years ago. Tuohy also bettered the all-time collegiate best in the indoor 1500 meters to 4:06.49, three seconds faster than Abbey Cooper in 2014.

Back in December, Tuohy became the ninth-fastest collegian over 5000 meters indoors when she covered the distance in 15:15.92 at the Sharon Colyer-Danville Season Opener in Boston.

Put those together and Tuohy is the only female athlete in collegiate history with all-time top-10 marks in both the mile and 5000 on record-legal tracks (It should be mentioned that Simpson ran 15:01.70 on an oversized track in 2009 for the all-time, all-conditions collegiate best).

This is the first time in program history that a female athlete from NC State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN — Papay Glaywulu, Adams State

Senior | Jumps
Kansas City, Missouri

Papay Glaywulu’s final jump was a record-breaking one.

Glaywulu, now competing for Adams State after transferring from NCAA Division I Nebraska, took down the near 26-year-old NCAA Division II record in the Men’s Triple Jump after bounding 16.61m (54-6) at the Wes Lavong Open. The previous record of 16.54m (54-3¼) was set by Steve Gordon of South Dakota in 1997. That is also the second-best performance among all collegians this season.

This is the fourth time in program history a male athlete from Adams State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Glaywulu joins two-time honoree Sydney Gidabuday (1x 2019, 1x 2017) and Oliver Aitchison (2016).

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN — Ayana Fields, Cal Poly Pomona

Junior | Sprints
Los Angeles, California

Ayana Fields is leaving her mark.

The Cal Poly Pomona standout stopped the clock at 23.40 to win the Women’s 200 Meters at the New Mexico Team Open on Friday night. Fields is now the second-fastest performer in NCAA Division II history behind Semoy Hackett of Lincoln (Mo.), who set the near 13-year old divisional record of 23.32 in 2010.

Fields was a four-time All-America last year in the sprints, headlined by a pair of runner-up honors in the 400 meters at the indoor and outdoor championships. In the 200 meters, she placed fifth indoors before improving to a third-place finish outdoors.

This is the first time in program history an athlete from Cal Poly Pomona has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

co-NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse

Sophomore | Sprints/Jumps
Oshkosh, Wisconsin

One lap.

That’s all Sam Blaskowski needed to alter NCAA DIII history.

Blaskowski broke the divisional record in the 200 meters this past weekend at the Aurora Grand Prix when he stopped the clock at 21.17. That was 0.14 seconds faster than the mark Thurgood Dennis established eight years ago while winning the event title at the NCAA Championships.

This is the second week in a row that Blaskowski has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week – and for good reason. Last week, Blaskowski cemented his spot as the fifth-fastest performer in NCAA DIII history in the 60 meters. Now, he’s the fastest over 200 meters.

Blaskowski is just the third male athlete to earn back-to-back indoor honors in award history: David Kornack of UW-Eau Claire did so in 2019; Noah Zastrow of UW-Stout followed in 2021.

co-NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Alex Phillip, John Carroll

Senior | Distance
Akron, Ohio

All eyes were on the Men’s 3000 Meters at the John Thomas Terrier Classic.

The heat before Alex Phillip stepped on the track, both the American record and the collegiate record fell.

What did Phillip do next? Take down the NCAA DIII record by one full second.

Phillip traversed 15 laps of the 200-meter track in 7:53.24, shattering the less-than-one-year-old divisional best of 7:54.58 that Aidan Ryan set on the same track last year while at Williams.

This is the second year in a row – and third time in his career – that Phillip has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. He was previously honored on both December 7, 2021 and January 25, 2022.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Victoria Kadiri, Johns Hopkins

Junior | Jumps/Multis
Lynn, Massachusetts

Victoria Kadiri did what!?

Already a double national leader in the horizontal jumps, Kadiri improved her chart-topping mark in the long jump to 5.89m (19-4) at the Patriot Games – which came within the confines of a winning pentathlon that put her second on the seasonal Descending Order List with 3470 points.

Kadiri was a three-time NCAA champion last year with a sweep of the horizontal jumps outdoors and an indoor long jump crown. She also placed 15th in the heptathlon at NCAAs, but is well on track to fare much better and possibly score even more points for Johns Hopkins in the process.

This is the second year in a row that a female athlete from Johns Hopkins has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Ella Baran snagged two national honors last year following sensational, record-breaking efforts in January and February.

NAIA MEN – Davonte Vanterpool, Southeastern (Fla.)

Grad Student | Hurdles
Umatilla, Florida

Davonte Vanterpool put himself among the NAIA elite this past weekend.

Vanterpool, competing at the Alachua County Collegiate Invitational, clocked an NAIA-leading 7.81 in the 60-meter hurdles. He is only the fifth NAIA athlete to run 7.81 or faster since 2018.

This marks the first time in program history that an athlete from Southeastern (Fla.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NAIA WOMEN – Juanita Webster-Freeman, Indiana Tech

Freshman | Combined Events

Juanita Webster-Freeman did it all this past weekend.

Webster-Freeman, competing at the Illini Challenge & Multi, finished as the top collegian in the pentathlon with 3936 points. That is the best-known score at the NAIA level since 2014 and she now leads the division by nearly 500 points.

Outside of the pentathlon, Webster-Freeman’s seasonal bests of 1.67m (5-5¾) in the high jump and 8.72 in the 60-meter hurdles rank No. 3 and No. 9 in the NAIA as standalone events.

This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Indiana Tech has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NJCAA MEN – Tapiwanashe Makarawu, New Mexico JC

Freshman | Sprints
Harare, Zimbabwe

Tapiwanashe Makarawu is known by his nickname “Carlie.”

He is also known to be fast. How fast? Makarawu sped a lap of the Albuquerque Convention Center’s 200-meter track in 20.47 to win the New Mexico Open.

That’s not only fastest of the year for NJCAA athletes, but second only to the NJCAA all-time best of 20.30 set by Kenny Bednarek of Indian Hills (Iowa) CC in 2019. Makarawu’s time also placed him third among collegians from all divisions this past weekend.

He wasn’t done. He came back to run the second leg of New Mexico JC’s runner-up 4×400 relay that clocked a school record of 3:08.19 in becoming the second-fastest in NJCAA history.

Makawaru is the first male athlete from New Mexico JC to earn M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors in indoor track & field.

NJCAA WOMEN – Miracle Thompson, Cloud County (Kan.) CC

Sophomore | Sprints/Hurdles
Abia State, Nigeria

Miracle Thompson was twice a winner at 60 meters at Wichita State’s Herm Wilson Invitational – once with hurdles and once without.

She set PRs in both, separated by about 10 minutes.

After qualifying fastest in both event’s prelims (8.52 in the 60-meter hurdles, 7.69 in the 60 meters), Thompson came back an hour later for the finals. Her 8.35 in the hurdles made her a winner by 0.53 seconds to improve her own NJCAA-leading standard and move to =No. 8 all-time NJCAA.

Some 10 minutes later Thompson was untouchable again, winning the 60 dash by 0.25 seconds in 7.48. That puts her No. 3 on the yearly NJCAA list.

Thompson is the fourth female athlete from Cloud County to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week in indoor track & field.