NCAA & NJCAA OTF National Athletes of the Week (April 6)

NEW ORLEANS – National Athletes of the Week for April 6 were announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Here are those individuals who earned national honors from the USTFCCCA for their efforts during the continuing outdoor track & field season.

• NCAA Division I Men – Cole Hocker, Oregon
• NCAA Division I Women – Camryn Rogers, California
• NCAA Division II Men – Brett Thompson, Pittsburg State
• NCAA Division II Women – Marie-Jeanne Ourega, Academy of Art
• NCAA Division III Men – Dallas Wright, Wartburg
• NCAA Division III Women – Parley Hannan, Ithaca
• NJCAA Division I Men – Andrei Romanov, New Mexico JC
• NJCAA Division I Women – Victoria Adu, Iowa Central CC
• NJCAA Division III Men – Donovan Denslow, Mineral Area (Mo.)
• NJCAA Division III Women – Mia Tolbert, College of DuPage

Find out more about each of these athletes by clicking their names or scrolling below.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 10 collegiate indoor track & field athletes, when applicable (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. 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.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Cole Hocker, Oregon

Redshirt Freshman | Mid-Distance
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cole Hocker is back at it again.
Competing at the Hayward Premiere, the first intercollegiate track & field meet at the redesigned Hayward Field, Hocker won a pair of stack mid-distance races and took over the accompanying national leads on the NCAA Division I Descending Order List.
Hocker started on Friday in the Men’s Invitational 1500, 109 meters less than the event in which he won his first NCAA title back in March. He used a powerful finishing kick to beat the rest of the competitors to the finish line by 0.80 seconds in 3:38.99.
Then on Saturday in the 800, Hocker doubled back with another huge kick along the rail to beat a talented field. Hocker won in 1:46.60, an all-conditions PR for him by nearly two seconds (Hocker previously ran 1:48.44 at the Tyson Invitational in February).
This is the first time since 2015 that a male athlete from Oregon has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season (Sam Crouser).

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Camryn Rogers, California

Senior | Throws
Richmond, British Columbia
The Queen of the Hammer is coming back for her throne.
Camryn Rogers, the victor of the 2019 NCAA hammer crown, unleashed a majestic heave this past weekend at the Stanford Invitational in her season debut.
Rogers opened with the best mark of her career – 71.73m (235-4) – which also made her the seventh-best performer in collegiate history (The performance list is a bit more congested over the years and because of that, Rogers ranks 30th on that chart). That effort topped her previous PR of 71.50m (234-7), which she used to win the NCAA title back in June 2019.
On her next two attempts, Rogers put two more implements over 70.00m (229-8) at 70.06m (229-10) and 70.01m (229-8).
All told, Rogers owns the top-5 marks from the collegiate season thus far.
This is the second time in program history that a female athlete from Cal has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Actually, it’s the second time this year!

NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Brett Thompson, Pittsburg State

Senior | Throws
Erie, Kansas
Brett Thompson continues to get better with each meet.
The senior from Erie, Kansas, won the javelin title at the SBU Invite on his fifth throw of the competition with a hurl of 73.87m (242-4). It was Thompson’s second week in a row notching a PR, as he threw 72.48m (237-9) two weeks ago to open the outdoor season.
Thompson’s effort lands him as the No. 7 performer all-time in NCAA Division II history and gives him the national lead by two inches, sneaking ahead of Devoux Deysel of Angelo State (73.82m/242-2), who is now ranked No. 8 all-time.
This is the seventh time in program history that a male athlete has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Marie-Jeanne Ourega, Academy of Art

Freshman | Jumps
L’Haÿ-les-Roses, France
Marie-Jeanne Ourega’s first attempt in the long jump was a memorable one.
The freshman from France opened up the competition with a monster jump of 6.58m (21-7 ¼) at the APU Invitational and Distance Carnival, finishing at the top collegian and second overall.
Ourega’s jump is the fourth best all-conditions mark in NCAA DII history. She also soared to the NCAA DII lead with that effort.
This is the third time in program history a female athlete has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Dallas Wright, Wartburg

Senior | Sprints/Hurdles
Carlisle, Iowa
Hurdles in his way or not, Dallas Wright made his way to the top of the NCAA DIII Descending Order List in a pair of events this past week.
Competing at the Loras East Mid-Week, Wright clocked a NCAA DIII-leading effort of 52.20 in the 400H to win by more than three seconds. It was also a massive improvement over all of his other season openers in the event, destroying his previous best of 54.36 from 2018.
Wright also led off the NCAA DIII-topping 4×100 relay to a time of 41.49.
This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from Wartburg has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Parley Hannan, Ithaca

Graduate Student | Distance
Orlean, Virginia
Make it a pair of national leads for Parley Hannan.
Hannan, who went 16:17.94 last week over 5000 meters to become the sixth-best performer in NCAA Division III history, dropped down in distance to the 1500 this past weekend at the Rochester-RIT-Ithaca Triangular and performed exceptionally well.
It was a 4:28.68 clocking for Hannan, which resulted in a nine-second victory. Hannan is now the national leader in that event by nearly five seconds. According to TFRRS, it was just her second career track race under 3000 meters (Hannan ran the mile on January 18, 2020).
This is the first time since 2018 that a female athlete from Ithaca has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season (Katherine Pitman).

NJCAA DIVISION I MEN – Andrei Romanov, New Mexico JC

Freshman | Throws
Moscow, Russia
Andrei Romanov must have decided that he wasn’t content with the No. 1 mark in NJCAA history in the hammer throw.
After what he did at the Joe Meaker Classic and Multi, hosted by West Texas A&M, Romanov now has an improved NJCAA record and nine of the all-time top-10 marks.
Here is Romanov’s series: Round 1 – 75.04m (246-3); Round 2 – F; Round 3 – 76.48m (250-11); Round 4 – 76.02m (249-5); Round 5 – 73.92m (242-6); Round 6 – 75.66m (248-3).
If your eyes are immediately drawn to his Round 3 effort of 76.48m (250-11), that’s for good reason: It’s his improved NJCAA record. All of those others come in at No. 2 (Round 4), No. 4 (Round 6), No. 7 (Round 1) and No. 8 (Round 5).
This is the second time this season that Romanov has been named National Athlete of the Week. He previously earned it for originally breaking the NJCAA record.

NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Victoria Adu, Iowa Central CC

Freshman | Throws
Berlin, Germany

Hammer? Weight?
The implements don’t matter: Victoria Adu will throw them a long way.
Adu, who left her name all over the NJCAA record book in the weight throw during the indoor season, began her assault on the all-time chart in the hammer this past weekend.
Competing at the USD Early Bird, Adu became the third-best performer in NJCAA history in the hammer with her Round 6 heave of 59.71m (195-11). That came after a 59.21m (194-3) effort in Round 3 and a 59.03m (193-8) effort in Round 5 that rank fifth and sixth in the divisional annals.
This is the first time that Adu has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. A female athlete from Iowa Central CC has been honored in five of the past six years that the honor has been given (We didn’t have an award program in 2020).

NJCAA DIVISION III MEN – Donovan Denslow, Mineral Area (Mo.)

Freshman | Distance
Eoila, Missouri

Two national leads weren’t enough for Donovan Denslow.
So, Denslow made it three with an 800-1500 double at the Central Methodist Invitational.
Denslow, who already led the nation in the 1500 and 5000, went 1:59.05 in the 800 and 4:00.18 in the 1500. That mark in the 1500 improved on his converted 4:04.05 from his efforts at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March, while the 800 sent him to the top.
This is the second week in a row that Denslow has been named National Athlete of the Week.

NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Mia Tolbert, College of DuPage

Freshman | Sprints
Make it two in a row for Mia Tolbert.
Tolbert improved her NJCAA DIII lead in the 200 meters to 27.23 this past weekend at the Principia Bearcat Classic. Not only that, but it was into a 1.2 m/s headwind, too.
During the same meet, Tolbert also bettered her seasonal best in the 100 to 13.54.
This is the second week in a row that Tolbert has been named National Athlete of the Week.