Coming off appearances at the NCAAs, Chicago distance runners wasted no time in leaving their mark on the winter.
Fourth-year distance maven Jessica Winter and third-year long man Emil Bojanov were named UAA Athletes of the Week for womens and mens track and field, respectively, after the Maroons first meet of the season, the league announced Tuesday. The conference office also tapped first-year Shane Carlson for his efforts for mens swimming and diving.
Winters hunt for another All-American certificate got off to a great start at the Chicago Opener, as she crossed the line a full seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Maroons third-year Jackie Kropp, for a 2:21.05 performance in the 800-meter run.
On the mens side, Bojanov helped his team to first place at the Opener with a second-place showing in a competitive 3,000-meter field. His 8:45.12 mark was a little under six seconds behind Cornerstone Universitys Derek Scott.
Unlike Bojanov, the points Carlson contributed werent part of a winning effort. However, he still did yeomans work in winning two individual events, hitting the wall first in the 200- (1:46.20) and 500-yard freestyle (4:44.05) in the teams 160132 loss at Olivet. He has now won eight different individual races on the year.
It was Winters second-ever indoor track weekly award, and the 11th weekly award of her illustrious Chicago career. For Carlson, the honor was the second of his young career, while it was Bojanovs second overall and first for indoor competitions.