Former Hydel High athlete Kimeone McLeod was this week named the National Junior College Athletics Association’s (NJCAA) national women track athlete of the week for the second-straight week.

She was among three former national representatives who received Athletes of the Week recognition as triple jumper Owayne Owens of the University of Virginia was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) male co-field Athlete of the Week, and shot putter Courtney Lawrence of Kennesaw State was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Male Field Athlete of the Week.

McLeod, the New Mexico Junior College sophomore, has been on a hot streak and has run personal bests at four successive meets so far this season.

On Saturday, she lowered her personal best in the 60m hurdles twice at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, running 8.35 seconds in the final, improving to number five all time on the NJCAA list.

Earlier in the semis, she had run 8.39 seconds, which at the time, was the seventh best all time.

A week earlier at the Wendy’s/Pittsburg State Invitational, she had run 8.40 seconds, ninth all time in the NJCAA coming after her 8.48 seconds at the Red Raider Invitational at Texas Tech after she had opened her season with 8.54 seconds.

McLeod, who was the runner-up in the 100-metre hurdles at last year’s NJCAA Outdoor Championships, is the second female athlete from New Mexico JC to earn this award twice in the same year — the other is Demisha Roswell in 2020.

Owens, the former Cornwall College athlete, was being named the ACC men’s field performer of the week for the second time this season after he won the triple jump with a season best 6.43m at the Doc Hale Elite Meet hosted by Virginia Tech.

The jump took him into second place in the NCAA Division 1 ranking and he was also third in the long jump with a jump of 7.40m.

Lawrence, who attended Petersfield High before going to Cloud County Community College, then to Kennesaw State, won the shot put at the USA Invitational with a mark of 19.20m, a season best and good enough for 17th in the NCAA and second best all time at Kennesaw State.

— Paul Reid