NCAA T&F National Athletes of the Week (March 9)

NEW ORLEANS – Indoors and outdoors.
Collegiate track & field athletes are competing everywhere right now.
Here are those individuals who stood out the most from their peers this past weekend and were named National Athletes of the Week on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

• NCAA Division I Men – O’Brien Wasome, Texas
• NCAA Division I Women – Anna Purchase, California
• NCAA Division II Men – Decio Andrade, Angelo State
• NCAA Division II Women – Daisy Osakue, Angelo State
• NCAA Division III Men – Jonathan Wilburn, UW-Oskhosh
• NCAA Division III Women – Lexi LeFever, UW-River Falls

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 eight 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 – O’Brien Wasome, Texas

Senior | Jumps
Central Village, Jamaica
Do you think O’Brien Wasome was ready to compete again?
It had been 372 days since Wasome swept the horizontal jumps at the Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships in 2020, but he certainly made up for lost time this past weekend when Texas hosted the Longhorn Invitational.
Wasome bounded 17.06m (55-11¾) in the triple jump with a 2.4 m/s wind at his back, which came right after his 17.05m (55-11½) in Round 1. All told, those marks lead the nation and would have ranked him No. 2 on the NCAA Division I Descending Order List in 2019.
This is the first time in award history that a male athlete from Texas has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Anna Purchase, California

Sophomore | Throws
Nottingham, England
Anna Purchase let the hammer fly – and then some.
Competing for the first time this outdoor season at the Cal vs Sac State Dual, Purchase went 65.59m (215-2) on her first attempt, extended that to 66.52m (218-3) in Round 5 and then went 66.16m (217-0) in Round 6 for yet another impressive effort.
If Purchase hit those marks in 2019, when the last outdoor season was contested, she would have ranked ninth on the year-end Descending Order List.
This is the first time in award history that an athlete from Cal has been named National Athlete of the Week during in track & field.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Decio Andrade, Angelo State

Sophomore | Throws
Camacha, Portugal
Decio Andrade wasted no time getting back to the top.
The sophomore from Camacha, Portugal launched the hammer 68.51m (224-9) on his second attempt of the competition to win the Trinity Invitational. His throw establishes him as the NCAA Division II leader in the event by more than 38 feet.
Andrade, the national champion in the event in 2019 as a freshman, has a PR of 70.42m (231-0) at the Angelo State David Noble Relays on April 6. He threw 69.30m (227-4) at this meet last year to open up the 2020 outdoor season.
This is the second time in Andrade’s career that he has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. He previously earned the honor on April 9, 2019.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Daisy Osakue, Angelo State

Graduate Student | Throws
Turin, Italy
Daisy Osakue picked up where she left off.
Osakue opened up her outdoor season with a toss of 61.19m (200-9) in the discus to win the Trinity Invitational coming on her third attempt of the competition. She is the NCAA Division II leader in the event by a little over two feet.
Her season opener was just shy of where she was in 2019, as she set her PR of 61.35m (201-3) set at the ACU Oliver Jackson Twilight on April 25. She later went on to win the national title at the outdoor championships.
This is the fourth time in Osakue’s career that she has been named National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. She earned the honor once in 2018 and twice in 2019.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Jonathan Wilburn, UW-Oskhosh

Junior | Jumps
Evanston, Illinois
Jonathan Wilburn didn’t wait long to improve his NCAA DIII-leading mark in the triple jump.
Wilburn did it on his first attempt – and then improved that on his sixth and final attempt – at the WIAC Last Chance Meet, hosted by UW-Whitewater this past weekend.
The junior bounded 14.96m (49-1) to open the competition and then added more than 10 inches to that seasonal best five attempts later. His 15.22m (49-11¼) winner from that meet is now on top of the NCAA DIII Descending Order List by more than 44 cm (1 foot, 5 inches).
Since 2019, there have only been three men in NCAA DIII who eclipsed 15.00m (49-2½) in the triple jump. Wilburn was the only one to do it in 2019 and 2021 (Sean Germany and Tom Kohn joined him in that regard last year).
This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from UW-Oshkosh has been named National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season (Melanie Brickner took home the second honor ever awarded to an NCAA DIII female athlete back on February 24, 2015).

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Lexi LeFever, UW-River Falls

Sophomore | Sprints
Hudson, Wisconsin
Lexi LeFever had a busy day at the WIAC Last Chance Meet.
As it turns out, that played into her favor as she walked away with three event titles and NCAA DIII-leading marks in the span of five hours after competing five different times.
LeFever started her day in the long jump, where she soared 5.82m (19-1¼) for a personal best and the NCAA DIII lead by more than five inches Less than four hours later, she cruised to her first victory on the track – and matched her personal best – with a 7.71 winner in the 60 (She sits No. 2 in NCAA DIII in that event). Not long after that, LeFever scorched the oval in the 200 for a time of 24.65c (25.03), which catapulted her to the top of the NCAA DIII list by 0.27 seconds.
This is the second time this season that LeFever has been named National Athlete of the Week. She previously earned the honor on February 9 following a dual meet against UW-Stout.