(Release from the USTFCCCA)
Records fell in collegiate track & field this past weekend and several of our National Athletes of the Week had a major hand in those instances.
Without further ado, let's see who earned National Athlete of the Week honors for the week that ended on January 31.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN — David Ribich, Western Oregon
Junior | Distance
Enterprise, Oregon
Before this past weekend, Western Oregon junior David Ribich had a PR of 4:05.21 in the mile.
Well, Ribich is getting awfully close to that elusive 4-minute barrier.
Running against an elite field this past weekend at the Washington Invitational, Ribich placed 5th in the mile in a time of 4:02.30 and beat a strong number of NCAA DI runners in the process. That shaved nearly 3 seconds off his previous PR. The race was won by Syracuse's Justyn Knight, who clocked a time of 3:59.54.
Ribich also had his hand in Western Oregon's DMR. He ran the anchor leg and helped his team to an NCAA DII-leading time of 9:45.45.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 8 collegiate outdoor 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.
