It was a new week, but for UAA track and field fans it may have seemed eerily familiar.
The tough-as-nails distance duo of fourth-year Jessica Winter and third-year Emil Bojanov swept the conference Athlete of the Week awards in their sport for the second week in a row, the league announced Wednesday. The UAA also recognized third-year 141-pounder Andrew Bribriesco for wrestling.
There was no getting past Winter last weekend. Her 5:07.93 mark in the mile at Saturday’s UW–Oshkosh Invitational was almost 14 seconds ahead of the next closest competitor. Winter had been seeded at 5:10 entering the race, her first mile run of 2006.
Bojanov was no slouch in his own mile run. He held off Oshkosh third-year Nate Boehlke for the win, crossing the line in 4:20.69 to best his opponent by almost six seconds. Bojanov had run the 3,000 in the team’s first competition of the winter months.
Faced with a tough field at the North Central Invite Friday and Saturday, Bribriesco went 4–0 on the weekend to place first in his weight class. His standing helped lead the Maroons to a fifth-place finish at the prestigious tournament. He has since earned a win by fall in Tuesday’s dual meet against Elmhurst to improve his season record to 11–5.
Winter has certainly been here before. The weekly honor is her second of the season, third career for indoor track, and 12th as a Maroon. It’s becoming a familiar experience for Bojanov as well, as he won his second of the winter and third overall. Bribriesco, on the other hand, broke through for the first time as a collegiate athlete.