Some stellar performances at the Drake Relays last weekend helped Lincoln distance runner Willomena Williams and sprinter Michael Ashley earn the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Track Athlete of the Week awards Tuesday.
Williams earned the women's award and Ashley claimed the men's honor, both of which were voted upon by a panel of the league's sports information directors.
Williams helped Lincoln win two events and post two other second-place results at the Relays.
The freshman from St. Catherine, Jamaica, was a member of the 4x400 team that set the best time in Division II this season, as the Blue Tigers won the event with a time of 3:37.77, an automatic qualifying standard for Division II nationals.
Williams also helped the 4x800 team win (8:52.53), while the distance medley (11:37.28) and 1,600-meter sprint medley team (3:54.15) had runner-up results.
Ashley was part of the 4x400-meter relay team that posted the best time this year by an MIAA team, as Lincoln took fifth out of 30 teams in the preliminaries of the Relays with a provisional time of 3:11.25.
Ashley later helped the Blue Tigers take sixth in the finals in 3:12.59.
The senior from St. Catherine, Jamaica, was also a member of Lincoln's 4x100 team which won the preliminaries against 29 other squads in 40.73, and part of the 4x200 foursome which finished second out of 20 teams in 1:26.16.
This marks the second time this outdoor season Lincoln has swept the track athlete of the week awards, as Lewis and Yanique Ellington were honored April 14, and the fifth time in 2013-14 Lincoln has accomplished that feat, doing it three times in the indoor season.
This is Ashley's second career MIAA honor and the first for Williams.
Both Blue Tiger teams will be in action Friday through Sunday as Lincoln hosts the MIAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
III
The Lincoln men and women both climbed a spot in this week's United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II national rankings released Tuesday.
The Lincoln women are ranked No. 4, while the men are No. 11. Grand Valley State is No. 1 on the women's side, while Saint Augustine's tops the men's rankings.
Lincoln is the highest-ranked MIAA women's program, with two other conference teams earning a mention in this week's rankings. Central Missouri is No. 7, while Pittsburg State is No. 10.
On the men's side, Lincoln is one of four MIAA teams in the poll at 11th. Pittsburg State leads the foursome at No 10. Central Missouri (No. 17) and Emporia State (No. 23) are the other ranked squads.
According to the USTFCCA website, the organization compiles its national team rankings by "mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national-team race."