M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (November 6)
NEW ORLEANS – Let’s crown some champions!
Here are the final M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for the 2023 collegiate cross country season.
- NAIA Men – Colten Covington, Indiana Wesleyan
- NAIA Women – Ellyse Tinglestad, College of Idaho
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.
NAIA MEN – Colten Covington, Indiana Wesleyan
Grad Student | Grant, Michigan
Championship racing agrees with Colten Covington.
Covington, who transferred to Indiana Wesleyan from Cornerstone (Mich.), galloped to top individual honors at the Crossroads League Championships this past weekend. The graduate student traversed the TUXC 8k course in 25:10.1 to edge teammate Luke Pohl for the crown by 1.7 seconds. Covington is now an individual champion in two conferences: he stood tall at the WHAC Championships back in 2021 after a pair of runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2021.
With Covington spearheading their attack and Pohl right behind, the top-ranked Wildcats steamrolled the field in Upland, Indiana. IWU went 1-2-3-4-9 for a near-perfect score of 19 points with Eli Fullterton (third) and Landon Wakeman (fourth) also in the individual top-5.
This is the second year in a row that a male athlete from IWU has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Fullerton previously earned national weekly honors last year on November 7, following his victory at the same meet.
NAIA WOMEN – Ellyse Tinglestad, College of Idaho
Senior | Joseph, Oregon
Make it three in a row for Ellyse Tinglestad.
Tinglestad captured her third consecutive individual title at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships this past weekend, covering the 6k course in 20:51.5. She opened a sizable lead by the 2k split and held the same advantage throughout the race, winning by nearly five seconds.
College of Idaho followed Tinglestad’s lead in Caldwell, Ohio, putting up a near-perfect score of 18 points with a 1-2-3-5-7 finish. Tinglestad was joined in the top-5 by Sage Martin (second), Abbey Shirts (third) and Kahea Figueira (fifth). Molly Connor just missed in seventh place.
This is the third time in the past two years that Tinglestad has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Tinglestad previously earned national weekly honors this year on October 23 and last year on October 27.