New Orleans, La. - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior
Sam Blaskowski of
Oshkosh (West) has been selected the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Men's Athlete of the Week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the organization announced Tuesday.
Blaskowski placed 10th in the 60-meter dash preliminaries with a time of 6.65 at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Championships on February 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A total of 17 sprinters competed in the preliminaries with the top-eight advancing to the finals. Blaskowski missed the final by 0.03 seconds.
His time of 6.65 ranks second in NCAA Division III history. Blaskowski owns the record of 6.64 set at the UWL
Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational on February 3. Blaskowski has nine of the top-10 times in NCAA Division III history.
This is the second time this season, and seventh time in his career, Blaskowski has been named NCAA Division III National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to eight collegiate indoor track & field athletes (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions as well as the NJCAA).
Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.
The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors also play a role in the decision.
UWL returns to action Friday, February 23 at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships at UW-Whitewater at 11:30 a.m.
