USTFCCCA Awards
By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA April 11, 2023   

M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (April 11)

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.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Mykolas Alekna, California

Sophomore | Throws | Vilnius, Lithuania

Mykolas Alekna rewrites the collegiate record book – one throw at a time.

Alekna, already the collegiate record-holder in the discus with his 68.73m (225-6) effort last year at the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships, added two more all-time top-5 marks in his season opener on Saturday at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational.

The California standout launched the platter 67.88m (222-9) on his second attempt of the competition, which was the second-farthest mark in collegiate history at the time. Then, Alekna hurled the disc 68.39m (224-5) to push that previous effort to No. 3 with the new one coming in at No. 2.

Prior to last year, no collegiate athlete had topped Hannes Hopley’s 67.66m (222-0) marker from 2004. Well, Hopley’s former collegiate record is now No. 5 on the all-time chart behind four bombs by Alekna.

This is the third time in Alekna’s career that he has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Alekna earned national honors twice last year.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Jorinde van Klinken, Oregon

Senior | Throws | Assan, The Netherlands

Jorinde van Klinken landed three discs in the sector this past weekend at the Triton Invitational.

All three of those further cemented her as one of the best to ever do it at the collegiate level.

van Klinken started at 66.85m (219-4) on her first attempt and then, after three fouls, sent the platter 65.28m (214-2) and finally 67.05m (220-0) on her fifth and sixth throws, respectively. Her farthest mark from the meet sits No. 3 in collegiate history, while the two others come in at No. 5 and No. 10 on the all-time chart.

This is the first time since 2017 that a female athlete from Oregon has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. The Ducks snagged three that year with a relay squad on April 4, future The Bowerman winner Raevyn Rogers on April 18 and Deajah Stevens on May 16.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Isaac Bostio, West Texas A&M

Freshman | Sprints | Takoradi, Ghana

Elite sprinting and West Texas A&M.

Name a better duo. We’ll wait.

Isaac Bostio and Joseph Manu pushed each other into the NCAA DII record book this past weekend at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi. Bostio and Manu both went sub-10.10 with a legal wind at their back, as Bostio crossed first in 10.06 with Manu right behind in 10.08.

To the victor goes the spoils: Bostio is now ranked second in NCAA DII history behind former West Texas A&M great Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku. Manu is tied for third on the all-time list.

This is the fourth year in a row that a male athlete from West Texas A&M has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Azamati-Kwaku earned honors three times in 2022 and twice in 2021, while Abraham Seaneke was lauded in 2019.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – DeOndra Green, West Texas A&M

Sophomore | Sprints | Montreal, Quebec

Welcome to the NCAA DII record book, DeOndra Green.

Competing at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi this past weekend, Green ran a wind-legal 11.36 in the 100 meters to move up to No. 10 in NCAA DII history. Green is the fastest NCAA DII woman since 2019 when Rene Medley of Lincoln (Mo.) and Dianna Johnson of Adams State etched their names into the divisional annals at No. 3 and No. 7, respectively.

This is the second week in a row that a female athlete from West Texas A&M has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Taylor Nelloms earned national honors last week after a strong effort in the triple jump. The Lady Buffs are now the only team in NCAA DII history to have two different women named M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week in back-to-back weeks during the outdoor season.

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

Sophomore | Sprints | Oshkosh, Wisconsin

“Foolish” by Ashanti topped the Billboard Hot 100 the last time an NCAA DIII athlete ran 10.20 or faster with a record-legal wind at their back in the 100 meters.

Now, that song is “Like Crazy” by Jimin, thanks to Sam Blaskowski of UW-La Crosee.

Blaskowski, already the NCAA DIII indoor record-holder in the 60 meters, scorched 40 more meters outdoors in 10.20 this past weekend at the Ashton May Invitational. That vaulted Blaskowski to No. 3 in NCAA DIII history behind record-holder Derrick Rippy (10.18) and Chaz Clemons (10.19).

This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from UW-La Crosse has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Emma Kelley, Washington (Mo.)

Junior | Mid-Distance | St. Louis, Missouri

One national lead wasn’t enough for Emma Kelley.

So, the Washington (Mo.) standout made it two this past weekend.

Kelley, competing at the Lincoln University Open, won the 400 meters in an NCAA DIII season-best mark of 55.15. That marked a PR for Kelley, who already held the NCAA DIII season best in the 800 meters at 2:06.72, which was just 0.10 seconds off her outright PR in the event.

The Bears also moved up to No. 4 on the Descending Order List in the 4×400 relay with Kelley on the anchor. WashU went 3:53.84 in that event to finish runner-up to the host Tigers.

This is the first time since 2017 that a female athlete from Washington (Mo.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Rebecca Ridderhoff took home national honors on April 11, too.

NAIA MEN – Saminu Abdul-Rasheed, Florida Memorial

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.

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.

NJCAA DIVISION I MEN – Joel Gardner, Pima (Ariz.) CC

Sophomore | Distance | Oro Valley, Arizona

Joel Gardner may have had the race of his life thus far at the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego.

He knocked 23.66 seconds off his 5000-meter PR in a dominant victory, winning by 7.08 seconds over Mesa (Ariz.) CC’s Yotuel Garcia, the reigning NJCAA Division II cross country champion. In the process, Gardner – whose previous best of 14:36.50 came while finishing seventh at last month’s NJCAA Indoor Championships – moved to No. 8 on the all-time NJCAA list.

Gardner is the second male athlete from Pima CC to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Ese Awusa, New Mexico JC

Sophomore | Hurdles | Ifako, Nigeria

Ese Awusa just needed the wind to calm down a little.

In her first 100-meter hurdles race with a legal wind reading in more than a year, Awusa zipped over the barriers at the Jo Meaker Classic in 13.40 (+1.2) to win by 0.28 seconds and lower her PR by 0.53 seconds. The time also moved her to No. 10 on the all-time NJCAA list.

This is the eighth time that a female athlete from New Mexico JC has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NJCAA DIVISION III MEN – Sie’ntez Lerma, Mineral Area (Mo.)

Freshman | Sprints | Malden, Missouri

Second place turned out to be just fine for Sie’ntez Lerma at the McKendree Classic.

With four runner-up finishes, Lerma bolted to No. 1 on the NJCAA Division III seasonal lists in three events and No. 2 in a fourth. Two of his marks came in individual events – the 200 meters (22.14) and 400 (49.95) in finishing as the leading JUCO athlete both times with performances that were faster than the winning efforts from last year’s NJCAA Division III Championships.

Lerma joined up with three other teammates as the Cardinals clocked 43.69 in the 4×100 relay and 3:30.46 in the 4×400 relay to rate No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in NJCAA Division III this year.

This is the second time that a male athlete from Mineral Area (Mo.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Taylor Harvey, Mohawk Valley (N.Y.) CC

Freshman | Distance

Taylor Harvey’s seasonal debut in the 5000 meters made quite a splash.

Harvey clocked 18:52.12 to win the Utica Pioneer Spring Invite by 6.12 seconds to take the NJCAA Division III lead in the event with a time that would have won last year’s national championships by over a minute. She is also the leading qualifier thus far in the 1500 with her converted indoor mark of 5:02.71.

This is the third time a female athlete from Mohawk Valley CC has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.