INDIANAPOLIS – A handful of teams were able to compete over the weekend, the final leg of the regular season, as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards were announced on Monday afternoon.
The Great Midwest Championships are less than two weeks away with the 8K and 6K races being hosted by Tiffin on Saturday the 24th. Safety protocols for fans, site administrators and student-athletes will be in place on site.
Kentucky Wesleyan hosted the Fast Cats Classic in Owensboro with Trevecca Nazarene also in attendance. The Rio Grande Home Meet also saw Cedarville, Ohio Valley and Tiffin, racing in what is the majority of the membership's final tune-up for the conference championships.
Men's Athlete of the Week
Isaiah Kelly
Cedarville
Sophomore
Mason, OH (Mason HS)
The Yellow Jackets were unable to compete at the Cedarville Open due to COVID-19 concerns and entered in the Rio Grande meet for additional seasoning needed for preparation of the conference championships.
Kelly earned his second conference athlete of the week honor after pacing Cedarville to a team win with six total schools in the field. He had additional help from three other teammates in the top 10 including Caleb Pendleton, Cooper Peterson and Braedon Killion.
The sophomore ran a 26:01.49 as he finished runner-up individually only to Jonah Phillips (Shawnee State).
Kelly is among the favorites to emerge as the possible conference runner of the year along with Walsh's Drew Roberts, another two-time recipient of athlete of the week status, and Malone's Zach Fresenko, a former conference freshman of the year.
Cedarville's cumulative time of 2:13:10.09 featured an average of 26:38.02. Tiffin was also third in the team scoring.
Kelly also won the first week of the season for his effort at the Taylor Invitational to open the fall.
Women's Athlete of the Week
Breanna Alderton
Kentucky Wesleyan
Junior
Owensboro, KY (Owensboro HS)
As a sophomore, Alderton dashed her way to all-conference honors with a top-10 finish at the Great Midwest Championships in 2019.
She became the second all-conference performer for the Panthers since joining the league in 2013.
Alderton knew her home course well at the Fast Cats Classic and helped the Panthers to a second-place team finish with 11 programs in attendance, primarily from Kentucky and Tennessee.
Alderton was second among all individuals with nearly 100 runners entering the 5K race. She crossed the line with a time of 18:35.05.
Alderton is a homegrown product from Owensboro and was previously 12th at the Louisville Classic and was top 10 at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Invitational
This is her first conference career weekly honor. The Panthers have one final meet in the regular season, the Murray State Invitational on Friday.