INDIANAPOLIS - The Great Midwest Athletic Conference has named Keelan Cole of Kentucky Wesleyan College and Nicole Burlinson of Ursuline College the Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week.

Men’s Track & Field: Athlete of the Week

Keelan Cole
Kentucky Wesleyan College (@KWCPanthers)
Sophomore - Sprints
Louisville, Ky. - Central High School
 
Keelan Cole has been named G-MAC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the first time this season, and has earned the honor for Kentucky Wesleyan College for the first time as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
Cole and the Panthers competed at the DePauw Indoor Classic in Greencastle, Indiana this past weekend. In his first event, the 60-meter dash, Cole advanced out of the preliminary field of 50 runners to participate in the eight-runner final where he placed seventh with a time of 7.21 seconds to score for his team.
 
Seemingly a warm-up, Cole followed up the 60-meter dash with his best performance of the afternoon, winning the 200-meter dash. In a field of 62 runners, his time of 22.81 was actually tied in the results with second place runner Robert Strong of Lindenwood. However, the top spot went to Cole as the extended finishing time had Cole in front.
 
View Keelan Cole’s bio (from KWCPanthers.com)

Women’s Track and Field: Athlete of the Week

Nicole Burlinson
Ursuline College (@UrsulineArrows)
Sophomore - Distance
Darlington, Great Britain - Carmel RC
 
Nicole Burlinson has been named the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this season and the second-straight week. After winning two events two weeks ago at the SPIRE Division II Challenge, Burlinson continued to improve upon her performances, establishing a new school record and reaching the NCAA Division II provisional qualification she missed in her last two races.
 
This past Friday evening at the Grand Valley State Big Meet, which was tabbed the USTFCCCA "National Meet of the Week”, Burlinson ran the 800 meter run in a time of 2:10.80, shattering her own school record of 2:14.06 set almost a year ago to the day at Kent State. She finished fourth in the field of 36 competitors and was well under the NCAA Division II Provisional Qualifying Time of 2:16.50.

Burlinson finished less than a second behind the unattached winner, Steph Tinney (2:09.86), and within 0.7 and 0.5 seconds of the second and third place finishers - both of which were NCAA Division I runners, making her the top Division II finisher in the field.
Burlinson’s weekend was not over, on Saturday she was leading her heat of the mile by an estimated 30 meters with 250 to go before a non-major injury forced her to pull up and she did not finish the race.
 
View Nicole Burlinson’s bio (from UrsulineArrows.com)