INDIANAPOLIS – Davis & Elkins and Kentucky Wesleyan were represented in the first set of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week announced on Wednesday.
 
Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Samantha Kirk
Davis & Elkins
Freshman
Sprints
Harrisville, WV (Ritchie County HS)
 
Kirk recorded a top-10 performance in her outdoor debut at the Washington & Lee Carnival in the 400-meter hurdles.
 
She was also a member of the winning 4x400-meter relay team with Jakeya Perrin, Roxine Chambers and Moesha Moncrieffe. They clocked a cumulative time of 4:05.88.
 
Kirk won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.12, a time that ranks seventh all-time in Great Midwest outdoor history. She is less than two seconds away from the overall record of 1:03.85, a standard that has been untouched since 2014.
 
Kirk made the finals of the 60-meter hurdles at the Great Midwest Championships, an event that featured national champion Janelle Perry and third-place All-American Milani Glass. She also ran in the finals of the distance medley relay and 4x400-meter relay.
 
Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Crystal Hopkins
Kentucky Wesleyan
Grad Student
Throws
Greenburgh, NY (Woodlands HS)
 
Hopkins put an exclamation point to the way she ended her indoor campaign at the Great Midwest Championships. She set an all-time and a new meet record in the weight throw.
 
The momentum carried into the outdoor season at her first meet at the Margaret Simmons Invitational as she had a pair of winning distances in the shot put and hammer throw.
 
Hopkins had a distance of 12.55m in the shot put and 47.62m in the hammer throw. She owns six of the current top-10 best distances in the shot put and owns seven, including the overall conference record, in the hammer throw.