From GVSU Sports Information
NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its weekly National Athletes of the Week, per a release on Tuesday, April 9, and Grand Valley State's Elli Kimes was selected as the NCAA Division II Women's National Athlete of the Week after a strong performance in the pole vault over the weekend.
Kimes, set a person record and hit an NCAA automatic mark in the pole vault after she cleared 4.20m (13' 9.25") and finished first at the Hilltopper Relays against a field of NCAA Division I athletes. Her mark tied as the seventh-best mark this past weekend regardless of division, and ranks as the seventh-best performance in the pole vault all-time in DII history. Kimes now holds the best mark in the division during the outdoor season.
Additionally, the Laker sophomore is the first GVSU athlete, male or female, in program history to be selected as a National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
