Courtesy of Dennis Young, USTFCCCA
NEW ORLEANS — Field events made a clean sweep of the National Athlete of the Week honors for the final weekend before conference championships kick off this weekend.
DIVISION II MEN – Taylor Miller, Findlay
Senior | Waynesfield, Ohio
Miller threw at two meets in two days this weekend, and he made it count on his sixth throw of the weekend. Competing at Ohio State on Friday, he launched the shot 18.45m (60-6.5) for second place. (Miller actually threw the shot just one centimeter shorter than his mark in the weight throw on Friday) That’s good for a new Division II national lead in the shot put by 66 centimeters–about two feet.
Next week’s GLIAC championships promise outstanding throwing performances. The conference has three of the top four (and eight out of the top twelve) shot put men in DII, and the top four in the weight throw.
DIVISION II WOMEN – Alexandra Kitz, Grand Valley State
Junior | Livonia, Michigan
Kitz skied to a huge personal best of of 3.96m (12-11.75) –15 centimeters higher than her old one–to win the pole vault at the GVSU Tune Up on her home runway on Friday. The Grand Valley State Laker takes over the No. 2 spot on the Division II descending order list.
Kitz has never been an All-American or conference champion. But her 3.96m jump would have been top five at each of the last three indoor national championships.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to eight (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, plus the NJCAA) collegiate track & field athletes.
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.