INDIANAPOLIS – Cedarville’s Carsyn Koch and Ursuline’s Janelle Perry were named Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week on Monday.
 
Koch excelled on the West Coast at the Bryan Clay Invite at Azusa Pacific University and also competed at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, Calif.
 
She automatically qualified for the NCAA DII National Championships in both the 800 and 1,500-meter events. The super-accomplished junior will head to Bradenton, Fla., in defense of her 800-meter national title.
 
On a smaller scale, Koch shattered conference records in both events. But she clocked the second-best time ever in NCAA DII competition in the 1,500-meter run at 4:12.19.
 
The top 1,500-meter women’s time was recorded in 2010 by Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler at the Mt. SAC Relays.
 
Her 800-meter time of 2:06.36 registered currently ranks second nationally in NCAA DII for the current outdoor season. The 1,500-meter time ranks No. 1 across NCAA DII by more than seven seconds.
 
Koch, a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in 2016, was in an elite heat of runners in the 800-meter race along with Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers, several athletes sponsored by NIKE and various runners sponsored by different clubs.
 
Perry was a standout at the All-Ohio Championships with new conference records established in the heptathlon and the high jump.
 
She racked up 4,970 points in six scored events to win the overall competition. She cleared 1.63m (5’ 4.25”) to earn the top spot in the conference high jump records.
 
Perry won the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter hurdles and long jump. She was fourth in the shot put and fifth in high jump while placing third in the 800-meter run.