Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Casimir Loxsom wins USATF Athlete of the Week

Casimir Loxsom wins USATF Athlete of the Week

1/28/2015
 
INDIANAPOLIS -- Casimir Loxsom has been awarded USATF Athlete of the Week honors following his outstanding performance at the University of New Mexico Lobo Open on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Loxsom (New Haven, Connecticut), in his first race of the season, set a new American indoor record in the 600 meters with his winning time of 1:15:58, breaking the previous record of 1:15.61 set in 2013 by Erik Sowinski.

“Going into the race, I knew what the record was,” said Loxsom, “I knew I was on pace through the 400. Once I crossed the finish line, I was just waiting for that record to come up. It was a big feeling of satisfaction.”

Loxsom celebrated the record for a few days, but says he will now return his focus to his primary goal, which is continuing to prepare for the 2015 USATF Outdoor Championships where the former Penn State All-American is the defending 800m silver medalist.

Other top performances this week included:

  • Michael Lihrman (Rice Lake, Wisconsin), a Wisconsin-Madison senior, threw the 35-pound weight 24.47m/80-3.5 at the Wisconsin-Minnesota dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Madison, Wisconsin, to climb to No. 5 on the all-time U.S. list. It was also the best ever by an NCAA Division I athlete.

  • Keturah Orji (Mount Olive, New Jersey), a freshman at the University of Georgia, secured her victory in the McCravy Memorial with a triple jump of 13.98m/45-10.5 on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Lexington, Kentucky. Her distance set a new indoor American Junior Record, a school record and a PR. It also places her at No. 9 on the all-time collegiate performers list.

  • Demi Payne (New Braunfels, Texas) of Stephen F. Austin set a collegiate record in the women's pole vault for the second week in a row, clearing 4.75m/15-7 at the University of New Mexico Lobo Open on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The mark moved her to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. list.

Now in its 14th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2015 Winners: January 15, Chris Derrick; January 21, Demi Payne; January 28, Casimir Loxsom.

About USATF
USA Track & Field is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s No. 1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the  United States. For more information on USATF, visit http://www.usatf.org/.

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