Adverse Weather Couldn’t Stop National Athletes of the Week

NEW ORLEANS – Neither heat nor rain at many of this past weekend’s major meets across the nation could slow down this week’s National Athletes of the Week, awarded by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Unseasonably warm temperatures at Notre Dame and Lehigh didn’t stop this week’s Division I honorees Anthony Rotich of UTEP and Abbey D’Agostino of Dartmouth. Rotich handled the heat and the nation’s deepest field at Notre Dame in stride en route to the win, while D’Agostino’s burned through the Paul Short field for a 26-second victory.

Division II men’s honoree Mike Biwott of American International earns the award for a second time this season after finishing runner-up at Paul Short, while Bellarmine’s Emily Frith took the women’s award following a ninth-place showing at the soggy Greater Louisville Classic — tops among DII competitors.

Conditions were also wet in Hanover, Ind., for Division III Pre-Nationals, but the weather couldn’t cool off St. Scholastica’s Chelsea Johnson, who won wire-to-wire for the second straight weekend for a nearly one-minute victory and her second consecutive National Athlete of the Week award. Connecticut College’s Mike LeDuc took the men’s race over a strong field featuring a former National Athlete of the Week to garner the men’s honor.