Three Red Flash earn NEC weekly accolades
SOMERSET, N.J. (April 16, 2008) – Saint Francis University student-athletes cleaned up in the Northeast Conference weekly awards announced on Tuesday. Red Flash runners and throwers won three of the six honors handed out, raising their overall honors count for the spring season to seven. This week’s winners are James Bush (Sprints, Sr., Baltimore, MD/St. Francis Prep), Men’s Track Athlete of the Week; Shannon Kovack (Distance, Jr., Connellsville, PA/Connellsville), Women’s Track Athlete of the Week; and Kayla Herron (Cumberland, OH/John Glenn), Women’s Field Athlete of the Week.
By virtue of an impressive 100-200 sprint double at the Bison Outdoor Classic, Bush became the first Saint Francis (PA) athlete to earn NEC men’s weekly honors this season. The senior sprinter won the 100-meter dash by clocking in with the top time (10.59) in the NEC this season, one that falls just shy of the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. His 200-meter performance of 21.75s ranks third on the conference’s performance list and is one-hundredth of a second short of the IC4A qualifying standard.
Kovack surpassed the qualifying standard for the ECAC Championships in the 10,000-meter run en route to becoming the first Red Flash to earn NEC Track Athlete of the Week honors this season. Kovack completed the race in 37:15.74 at the Bison Outdoor Classic to catapult herself atop the NEC Performance List.
Herron kept the NEC Field Athlete of the Week award in Red Flash hands by registering two championship-caliber marks in the throws at the Bison Outdoor Classic. A week after teammate Diane Gmiter qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the shot, Herron notched a qualifying mark with a first-place finish in the hammer (54.72m/179’ 6”). The senior thrower’s third-place performance in the discus (44.26m/145’ 2”) qualified her for the ECAC Championships. Herron owns the top hammer result in the Northeast Conference thus far this season while ranking second in the discus.
The Red Flash track and field teams return to action on April 24-26 when they visit historic Philadelphia for the prestigious Penn Relays.