INDIANAPOLIS - Malone and Ursuline each gained more season honors for Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week honors.
 
The outdoor season is in full swing as the conference is weeks away from the Great Midwest Championships hosted by Hillsdale from May 3-5.
 
Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Jade Smith
Malone
Senior
Uniontown, OH (Lake HS)
 
Smith has enjoyed a strong senior season that goes back to the cross country season and continued her success at the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell.
 
She ran the 10K and set a new conference record with a time of 35:38.30 edging out teammate Hannah Thompson by only three seconds in what was a very strong week for the event.
 
Smith and Thompson both clipped the previous record that was set earlier this spring by Cedarville’s Alaina Spears.
 
On top of setting the 10K record, Smith has been strong in other events as well as she currently ranks in the top 20 in the 1,500 meter, fourth in the 5K, and third in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
 
Smith was an NCAA All-American with a top-20 finish in the cross country campaign.
 
 
Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Janelle Perry
Ursuline
Junior
Akron, OH (Firestone HS)
 
Perry did enough to merit both track and field athlete of the week honors, something that has grown customary as the conference has watched her career blossom over time.
 
This week, she competed at the Walsh Invitational and won three events. She ran the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.48, a provisional qualifying mark for Division II on top of being the second fastest time in conference history only behind her national title winning time of 13.46 last season.
 
She was also part of the 4x100 team that took first at the event and is now the second fastest time of the season in the conference with a time of 47.36.
 
Finally, she stepped up in a big way in her field event, the long jump. The conference record book before this week featured Perry with eight of the top 10 best attempts.
 
She now owns nine of the best ten with her leap of 6.23 meters, which is good enough for second best in conference history.
 
She also now owns the second-best jump in Division II behind only Fatim Affessi of West Texas A&M.