Jamaican athletes Daniel Cope of Cloud County Community College and Nickesha Pryce of Iowa Western were named National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) national male and female track and field athletes of the week after leading their respective schools to regional titles last weekend.

Cope, formerly of Petersfield High School, improved on his personal best for the third time this indoor season when he broke the Cloud County record in the men’s weight throw, winning the NJCAA Region VI title with 19.35m on Saturday.

It was the first time this year a Cloud County men’s track athlete had been named NJCAA Track Athlete of the Week “and the third time that a T-Bird men’s athlete has been named National Athlete of the Week this year, with Courtney Lawrence being named US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)) National Athlete of the Week on January 19th and February 2nd”, according to the school’s website.

Pryce, a former Vere Technical High School runner, bagged three gold medals at the NJCAA Region XI championships on Sunday, winning the 200m and 400m double and also ran on the winning 4x400m relay team.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans Demar Francis of the University of South Dakota and Andre Douglas were named men’s athletes of the week in the Summit League and Big South Conference, respectively.

Former of Excelsior High School athlete Douglas won the 400m at the South Dakota State University Last Chance meet, running a new indoor best 47.51 seconds to win the event.

His time is the fourth fastest ever at South Dakota, and he also took over the lead in the event in the Summit League tables and also copped the favourite tag at this weekend’s indoor championships.

Another Jamaican, 800m runner Ackeen Colley of Western Illinois University who broke their programme record, also received votes from the selection committee.