M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (April 25)
NEW ORLEANS — This season just keeps getting better!
Here are the M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for April 25.
- NCAA Division I Men – Godson Oghenebrume, LSU
- NCAA Division I Women – Lamara Distin, Texas A&M
- NCAA Division II Men – Eli Kosiba, Grand Valley State
- NCAA Division II Women – Auna Childress, Pittsburg State
- NCAA Division III Men – Alex Phillip, John Carroll
- NCAA Division III Women – Kassie Parker, Loras
- NAIA Men – Saminu Abdul-Rasheed, Florida Memorial
- NAIA Women – Salieci Myles, William Carey (Miss.)
- NJCAA DI Men – Donald Chiyangwa, New Mexico JC
- NJCAA DI Women – JodyAnn Dixon, Hinds (Miss.) CC
- NJCAA DIII Men – Brooks Robson, Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC
- NJCAA DIII Women – Leah Lloyd, Finger Lakes (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 – Godson Oghenebrume, LSU
Sophomore | Sprints | Ughelli, Nigeria
Godson Oghenebrume blistered the track twice – 100 meters at a time.
Oghenebrume, competing at the LSU Alumni Gold this past weekend, started the day anchoring the host Tigers to victory in the 4×100 relay. LSU got the baton around in 38.26 to improve its national lead, clock the fastest mark by a collegiate team since 2019 and add a fourth all-time top-15 mark in collegiate history to the program’s ledger.
Then, Oghenebrume returned to the track for the open 100. He sizzled a slightly wind-aided 9.97 (+2.3) to beat a strong field that included 2022 World Championships silver medalist Marvin Bracy and 2022 World Championships finalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, among others.
This is the first time since 2021 that a male athlete from LSU has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Two Tigers took home national honors that season: eventual The Bowerman winner JuVaughn Harrison and Terrance Laird.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Lamara Distin, Texas A&M
Junior | Jumps | Hanover, Jamaica
Three has been the magic number for Lamara Distin this season.
Distin has only needed three clearances at each of her two meets this season to first take the national lead in the high jump and extend that same advantage.
One week after topping 1.93m (6-4) in her season debut, Distin soared over 1.95m (6-4¾) to win the event this past weekend at the LSU Alumni Gold. That was good enough to match the tenth-best performance in collegiate history (Distin now has five all-time top-10 marks).
This is the second year in a row that Distin has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Distin previously earned national honors on May 3, 2022.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Eli Kosiba, Grand Valley State
Junior | Jumps | Rensselaer, Indiana
Meet your new collegiate leader: Eli Kosiba.
The Grand Valley State standout made headlines this past weekend at the Al Owens Classic when he cleared 2.25m (7-4½) to stand alone atop the All-College Descending Order List.
Kosiba is now the 12th-best performer in NCAA DII history, just 1cm from the top-10. He also owns the best jump by an NCAA DII athlete not named Ushan Perera since 2016.
This is the first time since 2021 that a male athlete from Grand Valley State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Auna Childress, Pittsburg State
Junior | Jumps | Lawrence, Kansas
Well, that was worth the wait.
Auna Childress, competing for the first time this outdoor season, twice equaled the NCAA DII triple jump record when she bounded 13.31m (43-8) at the Pittsburg State Tune-Up. Her first came in Round 2 and then she replicated that feat in Round 4 to cement her newfound legacy.
Childress wasn’t born yet when Karin Grelsson originally established the all-time best back in 1992 at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. Only one athlete had come within 3cm (1 inch) of Grelsson’s record since then until Childress three-phased her way alongside the great.
This is the first time in program history that a female athlete from Pittsburg State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Alex Phillip, John Carroll
Junior | Distance | Akron Ohio
Alex Phillip is leaving his mark on the NCAA DIII record book.
Already the owner of the indoor 3000- and 5000-meter records, as well as the outdoor 5000-meter standard, Phillip took more than seven seconds off the division’s 10,000-meter best with his 28:31.60 effort at the Payton Jordan Invitational. That was on the same track, where seven years earlier, Ian La Mere originally topped the NCAA DIII ledger with his 28:38.63 clocking.
This is the second time this season that Phillip has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Phillip earned national honors following his previous record-breaking run.
NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Kassie Parker, Loras
Grad Student | Distance | Guttenberg, Iowa
Two races. Two records.
Kassie Parker did it again.
Parker, competing at the Payton Jordan Invitational this past weekend, took down Missy Buttry’s 20-year-old all-time division best in the 5000 meters. The Loras standout went 15:37.00 to lop 0.48 seconds off the mark Buttry (now Rock) set back on April 17, 2003.
Just a few weeks earlier, Parker bettered her own NCAA DIII record in the 10,000 meters to 32:36.22. Lo and behold, that was also clocked in Stanford, California.
This is the second time this season that Parker has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Parker earned national honors following her first record-breaking run.
NAIA MEN – Saminu Abdul-Rasheed, Florida Memorial
Sophomore | Sprints | Ghana
The last time an NAIA athlete went sub-10 in the 100 meters, under any conditions was Davidson Ezinwa of Azusa Pacific. That was 1992, when Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” topped the Billboard Hot 100 with Sir Mix-a-Lot and Kris Kross hot on their heels.
Well, Saminu Abdul-Rasheed changed the course of history 31 years later.
Abdul-Rasheed clocked a wind-aided 9.97 (+2.6) to win the 100 at the Sun Conference Outdoor Championships this past weekend. That time is the third-fastest known mark in NAIA history and equals the second-best all-conditions effort by a collegian this season.
He wasn’t done there, though. Abdul-Rasheed doubled back to win the 200 in 20.51 and helped the Lions finish runner-up in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.
This is the third time this season that Abdul-Rasheed has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. He previously earned national honors on March 21 and April 11.
NAIA WOMEN – Salieci Myles, William Carey (Miss.)
Sophomore | Sprints/Hurdles | Westmoreland, Jamaica
Salieci Myles hurdled into the record books this past weekend.
Myles, competing at the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Outdoor Championships, set an NAIA all-time best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.31 (0.6). The previous best of 13.35 was held by Oklahoma Baptist’s Akela Jones, who later starred at Kansas State.
The William Carey standout later finished runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:04.24.
This is the first time that an athlete from William Carey has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NJCAA DIVISION I MEN – Donald Chiyangwa, New Mexico JC
Freshman | Sprints | Harare, Zimbabwe
Donald Chiyangwa made a statement with outdoor debut in the 400.
The NJCAA Indoor champ in March, Chiyangwa won the Don Kirby Tailwind Open by a full second in a PR 45.42, the fastest NJCAA time since 2019. Chiyangwa now sits atop two events in the NJCAA yearly lists combined with his 20.23 in the 200 from a week earlier.
Chiyangwa is the third male athlete from New Mexico JC to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – JodyAnn Dixon, Hinds (Miss.) CC
Sophomore | Hurdles/Sprints | St. Ann, Jamaica
JodyAnn Dixon picked a good time for a breakthrough.
Dixon rose to the top of the NJCAA yearly lists with the first sub-60-second time of her life in the 400-meter hurdles at the Crimson Tide Invitational, finishing as runner-up in the race in 58.41, a PR by almost two seconds.
She is also a prominent member of the Hinds 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. The 4×100 squads leads the NJCAA at 44.77 from earlier this year while the 4×400 unit is No. 3 at 3:45.86.
Dixon is the second female athlete from Hinds CC to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NJCAA DIVISION III MEN – Brooks Robson, Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC
Freshman | Jumps | Bennington, Vermont
The wind cooperated for Brooks Robson at the Bobbi Palma UAlbany Spring Classic.
In the middle of a triple jump competition with mostly wind-aided jumps, Robson bounded out to 13.96m (45-9¾) in round three to win the meet and add more than a foot to his PR in taking the NJCAA Division III yearly lead in the event. His winning mark is one centimeter (½ inch) better than the winning effort from last year’s NJCAA Division III Championships.
Robson is the second male athlete from Hudson Valley CC to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Leah Lloyd, Finger Lakes (N.Y.) CC
Sophomore | Distance | Macedon, New York
Leah Lloyd is clearly in stride.
Lloyd won the steeplechase at the UB Alumni Invitational in a PR 11:38.78 over a field of NCAA Division I and post-collegiate runners. She now leads the NJCAA Division III by over 11 seconds and is more than 40 seconds faster than the time she ran to win the event in last year’s NJCAA Division III Championships.
Lloyd is the first female athlete from Finger Lakes CC to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.