USTFCCCA Awards
By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA December 9, 2024   

M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (Dec. 9)

NEW ORLEANS – What a start to the indoor season!

Here are our M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week in collegiate track & field for December 9, 2024!

  • NCAA Division I Men – Ethan Strand, North Carolina
  • NCAA Division I Women – Doris Lemngole, Alabama
  • NCAA Division II Men – Eli Kosiba, Grand Valley State
  • NCAA Division II Women – Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, Colo. School of Mines
  • NCAA Division III Men – Joshua Rivers, UW-Oshkosh
  • NCAA Division III Women – Kamiyah Wooten, North Carolina Wesleyan
  • NAIA Men – Barnabas Aggerh, William Carey (Miss.)
  • NAIA Women – Emma Valentine, Siena Heights (Mich.)
  • NJCAA Men – Raynier Galvez, Indian Hills (Iowa) CC
  • NJCAA Women – Faith Jeptoo, Crowder (Mo.)

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 – Ethan Strand, North Carolina

Senior | Distance
Vestavia, Alabama

Ethan Strand is now the fastest man in collegiate history in the 3000 meters.

Strand’s 7:30.15 from this past weekend at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener annihilated Drew Bosley’s former indoor CR by more than six seconds and bettered Henry Rono’s all-time, all-dates absolute collegiate best of 7:32.1h from the Bislett Diamond League meeting in 1978.

The North Carolina standout needed all of his 26.47 split from the final 200 meters since teammate Parker Wolfe was right with him. Wolfe finished just 0.08 seconds back in 7:30.23 for the second-fastest performance in collegiate history with Yaseen Abdalla of Arkansas (7:34.17) and Gary Martin of Virginia (7:36.09) also going under the previous collegiate record.

This is the second year in a row that a male athlete from North Carolina has been named the M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Strand joins Wolfe (Imagine that) in that regard, as Wolfe was honored last season on February 3.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Doris Lemngole, Alabama

Sophomore | Distance
West Pokot County, Kenya

Fans clamored for an encore from Doris Lemngole.

Well, Lemngole delivered in spades this past weekend at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. Lemngole, who won the individual title at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships exactly two weeks earlier, shattered Parker Valby’s indoor collegiate record in the 5000 meters. The Alabama phenom traversed 25 laps in 14:52.57 and lopped off 0.22 seconds from Valby’s best that she set in winning the NCAA title in the same city back in March.

Lemngole led a stacked section to historic levels: former teammate Hilda Olemomoi of Florida is now ranked third in collegiate history in 14:52.84; Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico slots in fourth at 15:00.36 following her first collegiate race on the oval; and Amy Bunnage of Stanford rounds out the all-time top-5 at 15:00.75, a mark that established a new Australian record.

This is the second time in program history that an athlete from Alabama has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Lemngole joins 2015 honoree Remona Burchell in that regard.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Eli Kosiba, Grand Valley State

Graduate Student | Jumps
Rensselaer, Indiana

The sky might not be the limit for Eli Kosiba. 

The Grand Valley State graduate student tied the Division II record in the high jump this weekend, leaping to 2.30m (7-6½) at the GVSU Holiday Open. Kosiba had no trouble progressing through the heights, entering at 1.84m (6-½) and needing just eight attempts to make it to 2.24m (7-4¼). 

Once there, Kosiba stalled on his first two tries before clearing the way on the last. The only competitor left by this point, the Lakers’ standout sent the bar straight to 2.30m (7-6½). The risk was undoubtedly worth it, hitting the new milestone on his second go and equalling Jim Dilling’s 17-year-old best.

This marks the third time that Kosiba has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Kosiba previously earned national weekly honors on January 24, 2023 and February 20, 2024. 

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, Colo. School of Mines

Redshirt Senior | Distance
Hutchinson, Kansas

Boston University. The Promised Land for PRs and record-breaking performances alike.

Saturday proved that sentiment true, as Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge of Colorado School of Mines kicked off the indoor track & field season by setting a new Division II record in the 5000 meters, crossing the line in 15:40.98 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. The redshirt senior shaved 0.32 seconds off the previous record, established by Winona State’s Lindsay Cunningham less than a year ago.

Dating back to 2021, Ramsey-Rutledge’s fastest mark in the event was 16:26.75. If you do the math, that’s 45 seconds slower than the time she posted this weekend… Then again, she’s coming off of a heck of a cross country campaign that saw a third place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

This marks the second time an athlete from Colo. School of Mines has been named M-F National Athlete of the Week during the indoor track & field season. Ramsey-Rutledge joins Hannah Miller who was awarded the honor on February 7, 2023.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Joshua Rivers, UW-Oshkosh

Junior | Jumps
Bolingbrook, Illinois

Joshua Rivers flew an unprecedented length this past weekend.

Competing at the UW-Oshkosh Early Bird Open & Multi, Rivers soared 8.13m (26-8¼) in the long jump to become the first athlete in NCAA DIII history to eclipse eight meters, regardless of venue, and shattered Shawn Watson’s division record of 7.96m (26-1½) that had stood since 1996. Rivers added two other jumps of 7.75m or farther in the field series, including a 7.82m (25-8) marker that equals the seventh best all-conditions performance in NCAA DIII history.

Oh, Rivers also PR’d in the 200 meters at 22.24 to finish second in that event and sit seventh on the seasonal Descending Order List.

This is the second time in program history that a male athlete from UW-Oshkosh has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Rivers joins 2022 honoree Jaylen Grant in that regard.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Kamiyah Wooten, North Carolina Wesleyan

Sophomore | Sprints
Farmville, North Carolina

Kamiyah Wooten sprinted to the top of the record book.

Wooten set an outright NCAA DIII record in the 300 meters when she traversed the distance in 39.15 at the Liberty Kickoff this past weekend. That mark was faster than both the all-conditions best of 39.33 from Kenadee Wayt in 2024 and the record-legal best of 39.47 from Gina Dello Russo back in 2018. On top of that, Wooten clocked hers on a flat, 200-meter track.

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

NAIA MEN – Barnabas Aggerh, William Carey (Miss.)

Sophomore | Sprints
Accara, Ghana

Barnabas Aggerh no longer has anyone ahead of him on the NAIA all-time 60-meter list – not after blazing 6.60 to win the Birmingham Indoor Icebreaker.

That performance took 0.01 seconds off the previous NAIA record set by Donte Sol of Multnomah (Ore.) in 2023 and was also 0.03 seconds faster than Aggerh’s old PR, which he used to win last year’s NAIA Indoor Championships. Aggerh’s mark was also the second-fastest of the weekend from collegians across all divisions.

This is the first time that a male athlete from William Carey has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NAIA WOMEN – Emma Valentine, Siena Heights (Mich.)

Junior | High Jump
Morrice, Michigan

Emma Valentine had already secured victory in the high jump at the Saginaw Valley State Holiday Open before she tried to climb higher on the NAIA all-time indoor list.

Already at No. 3 all-time with her winning height of 1.77m (5-9¾) from last year’s NAIA Indoor Championships, Valentine asked for the bar to be set at 1.78m (5-10). A third-attempt clearance moved her into a tie at No. 2 with the highest jump in the NAIA since 2019.

This is the first time that a female or male athlete from Siena Heights has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NJCAA MEN – Raynier Galvez, Indian Hills (Iowa) CC

Freshman | Mid-Distances
Paterson, New Jersey

The first-ever collegiate races for Raynier Galvez resulted in two victories from dominating performances at the Washburn Alumni Invite in Topeka, Kansas.

His opening effort of 1:09.58 gave him victory in the 600 yards by 3.77 seconds and placed him No. 7 on the NJCAA all-time list. Some four hours later, Galvez blew open the 4×400 relay, moving the Warriors from second to first with a 46.66-second split on the second leg – the fastest of the race by over a second – as the Warriors went on to win in 3:13.69.

This is the 12th time that male athletes from Indian Hills have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Galvez joins Traunard Folson (2024), Tyrice Taylor (2024), the 2024 DMR team, Rivaldo Marshall (three times in 2023), Kendrick Winfield (2022), Kenny Bednarek (three times in 2019) and Nathan Winters (2017) in that regard.

NJCAA WOMEN – Faith Jeptoo, Crowder (Mo.)

Freshman | Distances
Eldoret, Kenya

Faith Jeptoo hasn’t lost a step since the cross country season, it seems.

Jeptoo clocked a track PR 17:27.71 in the 5000 meters for seventh place in Pittsburg State’s Crimson & Gold Invitational.

While that was just off the 17:24.6 time she registered in taking fourth at last month’s NJCAA DI Cross Country Championships, it placed her No. 18 on the NJCAA all-time, all-conditions indoor list.

This is the first time that a female or male athlete from Crowder has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week in indoor track & field, although Jeptoo was so honored once during the 2024 cross country season.