M-F Athletic’s National Athletes of the Week - April 22, 2024
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to multiple collegiate Track and Field athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the National Junior College divisions, and the NAIA).
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. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.
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.
T’Mars McCallum, Tennessee
Sophomore | Sprints | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Perfect conditions suited T’Mars McCallum perfectly. McCallum, competing at the USC Outdoor Open in Columbia, South Carolina, ripped a wind-legal 9.94 (+2.0) to win the 100 meters by 0.12 seconds over Matthew Boling. That effort made McCallum the wind-legal collegiate leader and has him 0.01 seconds off the wind-legal world lead established by Christian Miller this past weekend at the Pure Athletics Spring Invitational. That is also the third fastest mark run this early in the season in collegiate history. This is just the second time in program history that a male athlete from Tennessee has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. McCallum joins 2017 The Bowerman winner Christian Coleman in that regard during his award-winning year.
Claudio Romero, LSU
Senior | Throws | Santiago, Chile
Claudio Romero is throwing like the former champion he is. Romero, who won the discus title at the 2022 NCAA DI Outdoor Championships while at Virginia, put together an outstanding series this past weekend at the LSU Alumni Gold. Included in his four measured marks of 64.73m (212-4) or better was a 67.29m (220-9) howitzer that made Romero the fifth-best performer in collegiate history. This is the second year in a row that a male athlete from LSU has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Romero joins Godson Oghenebrume in that regard. In total, LSU’s men have taken home eight national weekly honors outdoors.
Doris Lemngole, Alabama
Freshman | Distance | West Pokot County, Kenya
Twenty-eight fixed barriers, seven water jumps and 3000 meters couldn’t slow down Doris Lemngole this past weekend at the Wake Forest Invitational. In fact, Lemngole surpassed every obstacle with ease and ran her way into collegiate history. Lemngole stopped the clock at 9:22.31 to win the steeplechase and become the second-fastest performer in collegiate history behind Courtney Wayment at 9:16.00. In doing so, Lemngole beat defending NCAA champion – and former No. 3 all-time performer – Olivia Markezich. This is the first time since 2019 that a female athlete from Alabama has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Lemngole is the third in program history to garner national weekly honors, joining Tamara Clark (April 27, 2019) and Remona Burchell (April 7, 2015).
Dakarai Bush, Harding
Fifth Year | Sprints | Tatum, Texas
Dakarai Bush is in postseason form. And that’s scary. The fifth year student from Harding flew around the track to win the John McDonnell Invitational 400 meters in 45.79. Never mind the Division II rankings, that’s good enough for 19th in the entire NCAA right now. But anyone who’s been following Bush knows his capabilities. Last year, Bush turned up to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships and ran a personal best to win the 400 meters in 45.67. He previewed that incoming mark in the prelims, running just three hundredths of a second off from that at 45.70. For reference, the next closest competitor that weekend failed to even crack the 46 second threshold. This is the second time in program history that an athlete from Harding has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Bush joins two-time honoree Josh Syrotchen who laid claim to the title on March 1 and April 4 of 2017.
Kyla Davis, Pittsburg State
Junior| Pole Vault | Yukon, Oklahoma
If NCAA DII had a headliner event, it would be the women’s pole vault. In front of a home crowd on Saturday, Kyla Davis went out and jumped 4.39m (14-3¾), otherwise known as the ninth highest mark in Division II history. Following two first-attempt clearances at 4.19m (13-9) and 4.29m (14-0¾), she proceeded to notch a third straight first-attempt clearance to etch her name into the record book. Davis vaulted into the outdoor season off a tremendous indoor season that saw her top what was the NCAA DII record before the season began, but someone by the name of Brynn King went higher three other times to lay claim to that chart-topping mark. This is the third time in program history that a female athlete from Pittsburg State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Davis joins Emilyn Dearman and Auna Childress.
Justin Eichler, UW-Platteville
Senior | Throws | Mukonago, Wisconsin
Justin Eichler keeps climbing the all-time chart. Eichler, competing at the Augustana Meet of Champions this past weekend, hurled the hammer 67.32m (220-10) to become the second-best performer in NCAA DIII history behind Eric Flores at 69.64m (228-6). Flores has topped the all-time chart since 2011 and owns each of the top-6 marks in NCAA DIII history. Eichler was previously ranked fifth all-time. This is the first time since 2017 that a male athlete from UW-Platteville has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Ian LaMere took home two of his three career national weekly honors seven years ago and Dan Arnold was honored in 2016.
Grace Hadley, WPI
Senior | Distance | North Reading, Massachusetts
Competition? Grace Hadley didn’t need competition. Hadley, running at the Sean Collier Invitational this past weekend, won the 5000 meters in 15:56.26 to become the fourth-fastest performer in NCAA DIII history. It was a solo effort from the gun for Hadley, who won by 51.55 seconds over several NCAA Division I athletes. The WPI standout has been on a mission this year, starting with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships back in November. Since then, Hadley captured an NCAA title in the mile and PR’d in every distance offered from the 800 to 10,000 meters. This is the first time in program history that an athlete from WPI has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
Dustin Blevins, Montreat (N.C.)
Senior | Sprints | King, North Carolina
It was another successful conference championship for Dustin Blevins. At the Appalachian Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in Columbia, S.C., the Cavalier senior won three individual events and was a member of the winning 4×100 relay to tally 32½ team points on the weekend. He was named the league’s Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year as a result. He swept the horizontal jumps, going for a best of 7.44m (24-5) in the long jump which moved him to No. 3 on the NAIA qualifying charts for the season. He claimed the triple jump crown by nearly four feet with his best jump of the day at 14.87m (48-9½), and he translated that straightaway speed to a crown in the 100 meters, an event he won in 10.41 (1.3). He started the championship final day as anchor of the squad’s 4×100 that won the conference crown in 40.86, an “A”-standard qualifying mark for the NAIA Championships. Blevins is the first athlete from Montreat (N.C.) to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
Emma Johnson, Columbia International (S.C.)
Senior | Sprints | Clover, South Carolina
Emma Johnson who won four individual titles, was part of two winning relays, and was the driving force behind her team’s first conference crown in program history at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships. Johnson shined on her home track, as she won the 100 meters (11.60), 200 meters (24.09), 100-meter hurdles (14.03), and 400-meter hurdles (1:03.31) and all with personal best efforts. If that wasn’t enough, Johnson was a member of the winning 4×100 and 4×400 squads for the Rams. Her 45 points proved vital in the Rams’ ascendance up the team podium. Looking ahead, Johnson is now among the NAIA’s top-10 in qualifying for the national championships in three of those events: the 100m, 200m, and 100H. This is the first time that an athlete from Columbia International has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
Cyrus Ways, Indian Hills (Iowa) CC
Sophomore | Sprints/Hurdles | Ponte Verde, Florida
Cyrus Ways rose to the challenge this past weekend at the John McDonnell Invitational. Ways, competing against NCAA Division I talent, threw down three combined top-10 marks on the NJCAA seasonal chart in Fayetteville, Arkansas. His best effort came in the 400-meter hurdles, where he finished runner-up in 51.54 for the second-fastest performance in 2024 and a PR of more than one second. Earlier in the meet, Ways went 14.17 (-1.2) in the 110-meter hurdles for the tenth-best mark on the chart and ran the third leg of the now third-best 4×100 relay. This is the second time in the past three weeks that a male athlete from Indian Hills (Iowa) CC has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Ways joins Traunard Folson in that regard. Overall, the Warriors have garnered four national weekly honors in program history.
Cedricka Williams, Barton (Kan.) CC
Freshman | Throws | Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Cedricka Williams did it again. By again, we mean shattered the NJCAA record in the discus throw. Williams, competing at the Michael Johnson Invitational, flung the disc 57.80m (189-7) to extend her own NJCAA all-time best by 23cm (nine inches). The freshman from Jamaica also won the event crown with that mark against a bevy of NCAA Division I competition. This is the third time this season that Williams has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Williams took home national weekly honors on both April 2 and April 15.
Kevin Diederich, College of DuPage (Ill.)
Freshman | Distance | Elmhurst, Illinois
Kevin Diederich is now a two-event national leader. Diederich, competing at the Don Church Twilight hosted by Wheaton (Ill.), went 15:24.90 over 5000 meters to finish runner-up. That was a huge PR by more than 20 seconds for Diederich, who previously stopped the clock at 15:47.27 during the indoor season. Three weeks ago, Diederich clocked a 32:13.45 national-leading mark in the 10,000 meters. This is the second time in the past three weeks that a male athlete from DuPage (Ill.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Diederich joins Weston White in that regard (White was feted on April 8).
Isabella Wojciechowski, Harper (Ill.)
Freshman | Distance | Buffalo Grove, Illinois
It’s tight at the top of the NJCAA DIII rankings in the 5000 meters. Isabella Wojciechowski usurped the national lead by 0.33 seconds this past weekend with her 19:24.94 effort at the Green & White Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-Lutheran. That was a PR by more than four seconds for the freshman from Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Wojciechowski also sits second on the national chart in the 10,000 meters at 42:33.58 and fifth in the 1500 meters at 5:09.78. This is the fourth time in the past two years that a female athlete from Harper (Ill.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Wojciechowski joins three-time honoree Lilly Alberts in that regard (twice in 2023, once this year).