INDIANAPOLIS – Runners are entering the final stretch of the regular season as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Athletes of the Week honors were announced on Thursday.
 
The Great Midwest Championship meets will be hosted by Cedarville on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Elvin R. King Course. The Midwest Regionals will follow and the nationals with teams and individuals with aspirations of competing on the toughest level of Division II.
 
Men’s Athlete of the Week
Noah Fisher
Findlay
Sophomore
Defiance, OH (Ayersville HS)
 
Fisher cruised to this third consecutive top-10 performance in cross country this season, placing fifth at the Royals Challenge, an 8K race held in North Carolina.
 
Fisher posted a time of 23:45.90 in a busy field with 33 teams and 337 total runners.
 
The sophomore averaged 4:46 per mile in the Gold Division as the Oilers competed with Cedarville, Tiffin and Malone, in the team scoring.
 
Previously, Fisher had recorded a ninth-place finish at the All-Ohio Championships and opened the year with a runner-up placing at the 6K Polar Bear Invitational.
 
Women’s Athlete of the Week
Mackenna Curtis-Collins
Malone
RS Senior
Mansfield, OH (Lexington HS)
 
The two-time Great Midwest Runner of the Year was tuning up for another go at top honors in cross country with a first-place effort at the Royals Challenge.
 
Curtis-Collins topped all runners in the Gold Division 5K distance with a time of 16:59.50. She held off a strong grouping of Cedarville runners with four Yellow Jackets posting top-10 individual performances.
 
The Pioneers were one of 29 program scored in the Gold Division.
 
Curtis-Collins also registered her third consecutive top-10 showing after finishing sixth at the All-Ohio Championships and fourth at the Tommy Evans Invitational.