M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (April 8, 2024)
NEW ORLEANS — We heard you like M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week.
So here are our M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for April 8, 2024!
- NCAA Division I Men – Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, South Florida
- NCAA Division I Women – Jaida Ross, Oregon
- NCAA Division II Men – Isaac Botsio, West Texas A&M
- NCAA Division II Women – Maricia Spence, Angelo State
- NCAA Division III Men – Jake Gladieux, Trine
- NCAA Division III Women – Grace Alley, Loras
- NAIA Men – Michael Millslagle, Graceland (Iowa)
- NAIA Women – Praise Idamadudu, Cumberland (Tenn.)
- NJCAA DI Men – Traunard Folson, Indian Hills (Iowa) CC
- NJCAA DI Women – Privillege Chikara, Meridian (Miss.) CC
- NJCAA DIII Men – Weston White, College of DuPage (Ill.)
- NJCAA DIII Women – Bryn Whitman, Onondaga (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 – Abdul-Rasheed Saminu, South Florida
Sophomore | Sprints
Nanumba, Ghana
Abdul-Rasheed Saminu is making himself at home in NCAA Division I.
Saminu, who previously competed at NAIA Florida Memorial, scorched a wind-aided 9.95 (+3.6) in the 100 meters to usurp the top spot on the seasonal Descending Order List. He also added a wind-aided, 200-meter time of 20.34 (+3.3) to put him fifth in the nation.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from South Florida has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Jaida Ross, Oregon
Junior | Throws
Medford, Oregon
Jaida Ross let it fly at the Triton Invitational.
Ross, competing for the first time since finishing runner-up at the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships, eclipsed the collegiate record in the shot put with a heave of 19.71m (64-8). That was 7cm or 2¾ inches better than former Ohio State standout Adelaide Aquilla threw back in 2022 (Aquilla won the NCAA title with her 16.64m (64-5¼) mark that year).
The past eight years have been a renaissance for the women’s shot put. Meg Ritchie’s collegiate record stood for 33 years until former Ole Miss standout Raven Saunders demoted it to second-best in 2016. Now, Saunders is ranked fifth on the all-time chart with Ritchie down in eighth.
This is the second year in a row that a female athlete from Oregon has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Ross joins former teammate Jordine van Klinken in that regard.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Isaac Botsio, West Texas A&M
Sophomore | Sprints
Takoradi, Ghana
Issac Botsio is the fastest man in the world right now.
At least in the 100 meters, regardless of wind reading.
The West Texas A&M sophomore tore across the track at the Joe Meaker Classic and Multi to a 9.90 (+2.2) mark in the 100 meters, which also gave him the second-fastest all-conditions mark in NCAA DII history. Later, Botsio helped the Buffs’ 4×100 relay to a time of 39.90.
Despite posting a slew of impressive marks last year, this is the first time in his career that Botsio has dipped below the 10-second barrier. Botsio will need to repeat the feat in a wind legal setting if he wants the divisional record however, as that title resides with former WTAMU standout Benjamin Azamati.
This is the second time that Botsio has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the Outdoor Track and Field season. Botsio previously earned national weekly honors on April 11, 2023.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Maricia Spence, Angelo State
Senior | Combined Events
Jamaica
Maricia Spence did a little bit of everything at the David Noble Relays on Saturday.
Of course, that’s part of the deal when signing up for the heptathlon.
Tallying 5791 points, she climbed up the NCAA DII all-time list to No. 7, four points away from tying the sixth best all-time mark, which belongs to former Angelo State Ram, Aisha Adams. The rest of the division has quite a ways to make up, as the second-best total this season is nearly 400 points behind.
Highlights from the seven-event expo include a 6.22m (20-5) long jump and 13.62 100-meter hurdles, both of which currently rank within the top-3 in NCAA DII. Spence even managed to put what energy she had left into a leg of the 4x100m relay, helping her team to a 45.37.
This is the third time in program history that a female athlete from Angelo State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the Outdoor Track and Field season. Spence joins Kami Norton and four-time winner Daisey Osakue.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Jake Gladieux, Trine
Senior | Hurdles
Oregon, Ohio
Hurdling is what Jake Gladieux does.
It doesn’t matter what distance.
Gladieux proved that last year at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships when he captured top-5 finishes in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles (He also won the 60H crown at the NCAA Indoor meet this year). Fast forward 11 months and Gladieux picked up where he left off, albeit not with national titles but event crowns at the Manchester Invitational.
The Trine standout clocked near seasonal-best marks in each event: 14.36 (+0.3) and 52.19. When you add those marks to his ledger, Gladieux now owns three of the top-10 seasonal marks in the 110H and two of the top-3 seasonal marks in the 400H.
This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from Trine has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Grace Alley, Loras
Senior | Combined Events
Seneca, Illinois
Grace Alley is already in postseason form.
Alley, competing at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi, posted an NCAA DIII-leading total of 5233 in the heptathlon and added another all-time mark to the record book. That score is the tenth-best in NCAA DIII history and the second-best this early in the season behind Annie Wright’s 5307 back in 2019 (Alley has a heptathlon PR of 5278 from the NCAA Championships last year).
This is the third year in a row that a female athlete from Loras has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Kassie Parker was honored four times between 2022 and 2023 for her efforts, three of which came in a record-breaking 2023.
NJCAA MEN – Michael Millslagle, Graceland (Iowa)
Senior | Jumps
Lamoni, Iowa
Michael Millslagle remains untouchable in the high jump.
With victory already clinched at 2.14m (7-0¼) at Pittsburg State’s David Suenram Gorilla Classic, Millslagle had the bar raised to 2.20m (7-2½). He cleared that height on his first attempt for an NAIA outdoor all-time best.
The height also matched Millslagle’s indoor best. The two-time NAIA Indoor champ will be seeking his first-ever outdoor crown next month. He has yet to lose to another NAIA high jumper all year, including indoors.
This is the first time that a male or female athlete from Graceland has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NAIA WOMEN – Praise Idamadudu, Cumberland (Tenn.)
Junior | Sprints
Nigeria
Praise Idamadudu left no doubt in her outdoor 400 opener.
Idamadudu cruised to victory by more than a full second at the Crimson Tide Invitational, stopping the clock in an NAIA-leading 52.46. That’s the second-fastest performance on the all-time NAIA list behind only her 52.27 from 2022.
The two-time reigning NAIA Outdoor 400 champion, Idamadudu has yet to lose to another NAIA athlete this year, indoors or outdoors, in events ranging from 60 meters to the 400.
This is the second time that a female athlete from Cumberland has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season, as Idamadudu was so honored once last year.
NJCAA DIVISION I MEN – Traunard Folson, Indian Hills (Iowa) CC
Sophomore | Sprints
Jacksonville, Florida
Add Traunard Folson to the list of NJCAA sprinters to run sub-10 in the 100 meters.
Folson was the only sprinter to run as fast at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, winning by 0.05 seconds in a wind-aided 9.98 with a 4.8 meters-per-second wind at his back. He moves to No. =9 on the NJCAA all-time, all-conditions list.
It was the second win of the day for Folson, who ran the second leg for the Warriors’ 4×100 relay team that crossed the line first in a seasonal best of 40.09 that ties them for third-fastest NJCAA team thus far in 2024.
This is the third time that a male athlete from Indian Hills has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Folson joins Kenny Bednarek (twice in 2019) in that regard.
NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Privillege Chikara, Meridian (Miss.) CC
Sophomore | Mid-Distances
Zimbabwe
Which event is Privillege Chikara’s best?
A time of 4:25.28 in the 1500 is her latest accomplishment, finishing as the leading JUCO athlete in the Crimson Tide Invitational to become No. 4 on the all-time NJCAA list. That was a PR by 8.22 seconds and 3.71 seconds off the all-time best of 4:21.57.
Chikara might be better known to some in the 800 meters, where she is No. 3 all-time on the NJCAA indoor list after winning her second-straight indoor title last month with a 2:08.08 clocking. She has yet to run the 800 outdoors this year.
This is the second time that a female athlete from Meridian has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Folson joins Kenny Bednarek (twice in 2019) in that regard.
NJCAA DIVISION III MEN – Weston White, College of DuPage (Ill.)
Freshman | Sprints
Batavia, Illinois
There’s big competition to be the top sprinter at College of DuPage (Ill.) as freshman Weston White swept the 100 and 200 meters at the Chicagoland Invitational. The runner-up in each event was teammate Noah Mack, merely the reigning NJCAA Division III champion in both events.
White edged Mack, 10.66 to 10.67, in the 100 as the two sit 1-2 on the seasonal list. Wind conditions were unfavorable in the 200, and a headwind of -3.4 meters per second held White to a time of 22.18, just 0.01 off the national lead, while Mack clocked 22.21 in a separate section (-2.1).
Earlier in the day, White ran leadoff while Mack anchored the Chaparrals’ 4×100 relay team to a runner-up finish in 41.46, the fastest by an NJCAA DIII squad this year.
This is the second time that a male athlete from DuPage has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. White joins Mack, who was so honored once last year, in that regard.
NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Bryn Whitman, Onondaga (N.Y.) CC
Sophomore | Throws
Auburn, New York
Is there a connection between soccer goalkeeping and discus throwing?
Ask Bryn Whitman, who holds Onondaga school records in both sports. Her most recent achievement came in winning the discus at the SUNY Cortland Red Dragon Open with a heave of 40.28m (132-2) that obliterated her previous best of 37.11m (121-9) in winning last year’s NJCAA Division III title.
She also was NJCAA DIII champion last year in the javelin with another school record – 30.43m/99-10 (her best thus far this year is 25.06m/82-3).
In her freshman year she was goalkeeper for the Lazers’ soccer team, setting a school record for saves in a season with 142 in the fall of 2022.
This is the second time that a female athlete from Onondaga has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Whitman joins Karizma Brathwaite (2023) in that regard.