Tuesday, February 23, 2016

NCAA & NJCAA National Athletes of the Week Come Up Big Against Elite Competition

 


courtesy By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA
February 23, 2016   



NEW ORLEANS — Elite athletes shine the most when the lights are brightest.
Even though national championships weren’t on the line this past weekend, judging on how the National Athletes of the Week competed, they’re ready for March’s madness.
Here is a glance at the eight athletes honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. You can find more about them by clicking their names.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to eight collegiate indoor track & field athletes (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions 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.
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 — Edward Cheserek, Oregon

Junior | Distance
Newark, New Jersey
So rare are the times that the track & field world gets to see Cheserek unbridled that each one should be savored.
This past weekend at the legendary Millrose Games, Cheserek took off the reins and put on a show.
Running against an elite field in the Paavo Nurmi 3000, Cheserek showed he belonged. Cheserek hung tough and when the rabbit dropped out after the mile, the junior from Oregon took over the lead and maintained the blistering tempo for a little more than 600 meters (1800-2400).
"No one wanted to take the pace, so I had to do it," Cheserek told reporters after the race.
By the end, Cheserek faded to sixth — but still ran the second fastest time in collegiate history (7:40.51). Cheserek also set a school record and was the fastest 3000 in the past 12 years.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN — Raevyn Rogers, Oregon

Sophomore | Middle Distance
Houston, Texas
After bursting onto the national scene a year ago by running just the fourth sub-two-minute 800 en route to an upset victory at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the track & field world has since been awaiting Rogers’ 2016 indoor debut in the event.
The wait was well worth it. The sophomore ran 2:00.90 in a fourth-place finish at the prestigious Millrose Games this past Saturday, coming within fractions of a second of the decade-old collegiate record. That record belongs to Nicole Cook of Tennessee, who ran 2:00.75 at the 2005 SEC Championships.
She came within a second of winner Ajee’ Wilson, who ran 2:00.09.
Not only is Rogers now No. 2 on the all-time collegiate indoor list, she’s also the youngest member of the list – everyone else ran their performances as juniors or seniors – and she’s the only collegiate woman to have run faster than 2:01 indoors and 2:00 outdoors.
Coincidentally, three of the women she displaced on the all-time collegiate list were in the same race on Saturday. Former Bowerman winner and Oregon standout Laura Roesler was third, and Rogers defeated both Phoebe Wright and Natoya Goule of Tennessee and LSU/Clemson, respectively.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN — Jeron Robinson, Texas A&M-Kingsville

Senior | High Jump
Houston, Texas
While several men in the NCAA DI high jump are battling to fill the void left by 2015 indoor/outdoor national champion JaCorian Duffield of Texas Tech, the mantle of “top collegiate high jumper” might not be decided at the DI Championships next month.
Jeron Robinson of Texas A&M-Kingsville staked his claim to that title this past weekend at the Lone Star Championships this weekend, soaring above a collegiate-leading 2.29m (7-6) on his second attempt. Having won the competition five rounds earlier on a first-try make at 2.10m, he bowed out with that final clearance.
Not only does the mark tie him atop the collegiate leaderboard with two-time NCAA DI runner-up Bradley Adkins of Texas Tech, it catapulted him to No. 2 on the all-time Division II high jump list. Already the DII outdoor record holder at 2.31m (7-7), he came up just one centimeter shy of the 2.30m (7-6½) record held by Minnesota State’s Jim Dilling.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN — Nikia Squire, Queens (N.C.)

Senior | Sprints and Jumps
Columbia, South Carolina
Squire made an emphatic case for “fastest woman in Division II” this weekend at the UCS Invitational, as well as bolstering her position as a long jump contender.
After running a then-DII-leading 7.36 in the 60-meter prelims, she bettered herself again in the final with a 7.35 to win by nearly a tenth of a second. She topped Claflin’s Trisana Fairweather, who is No. 2 on the qualifying list with a converted 55-meter performance, by nearly two-tenths of a second.
She now leads all DII sprinters by a tenth of a second over the 60-meter distance.
With a 5.92m (19-5¼) in the long jump, she finished runner-up in that event to move up to No. 9 in the country. The mark is just eight centimeters shy of her collegiate career-best.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN — J.R. Lowery, Frostburg State

Senior | Throws
Rohresville, Maryland
Personal bests weren’t enough for Lowery, so he aimed for the record book.
This past weekend at the Capital Athletic Conference Championships, Lowery broke a long-standing meet record in the shot put with a heave of 17.00m (55-9.25). That also was a personal best for Lowery — regardless of location (indoors or outdoors) — and put him fourth on the DIII descending order list.
Lowery then outdid himself in the weight throw with an effort of 16.55m (54-3.75). His previous personal best in that event was 16.06m (52-6.75), set last year at the same meet.
It should also be mentioned that Lowery is ranked fifth in the shot put among all football players competing in track & field.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN — Alexis Harrison, Tufts

Senior | Sprints and Jumps
Toms River, New Jersey
It’s safe to say Tufts wouldn’t have finished as highly as it did at the NCAA Division III New England Championships if it wasn’t for the efforts of Harrison. The senior scored 21 of the fourth-place Jumbos’ 52 points.
But what’s more impressive about Harrison’s day was that she set a meet, facility and school record in the 60. Harrison’s time of 7.63 also currently stands as the second fastest mark in DIII this season.

NJCAA MEN — Fabian Edoki, South Plains

Freshman | Jumps
Nigeria
There are only seven men in the nation who have soared 25 feet, 11 inches (7.90m) or more in the long jump this season.
One of them is Edoki, the current leader in the NJCAA.
This past weekend at the South Plains College Indoor Invitational, Edoki hit that mark on his third attempt. Edoki ended up winning the event by more than seven inches over teammate Saahir Bethea.

NJCAA WOMEN — Portious Warren, Central Arizona

Freshman | Throws
Trinidad and Tobago
The ink didn’t dry on the NJCAA record book before Warren forced another revision.
Two weeks ago, Warren broke the NJCAA record in the shot put.
This past weekend, Warren did it again.
Warren, a freshman, heaved the weighted orb 16.36m (53-8.25) en route to a victory at the Puma Indoor Classic.


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