April 9, 2008

MVC Weekly Notebook in PDF Format

 

ST. LOUIS -- University of Northern Iowa freshman Olimpia Nowak has been named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women's Track Athlete of the week, the league announced Wednesday.

 

Nowak posted The Valley's top time so far this season on her way to claiming the runner-up spot in the 100-meter hurdles at Saturday's ESU Relays in Emporia, Kan.

 

The freshman posted a mark of 13.6 seconds (hand time) in her first-ever collegiate outdoor hurdles race. The time equaled that of winner Chelsea Luck, who was awarded the top spot in a judge's decision. Nowak's run in the finals trimmed a full second off her preliminaries time of 14.67.

 

The award is the second MVC weekly honor of the season for Nowak, who also earned Women's Field Athlete of the Week laurels for the week of Feb. 26. Nowak won the women's heptathlon title at the State Farm MVC Indoor Championships in March and also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

 

Nowak gives UNI a weekly award winner for the second-consecutive week, as senior Rachel Jansen earned the nod as the league's field athlete of the week on April 2.

 

The Panthers return to action this weekend at the Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa. The meet, hosted by Drake, begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday (April 11) with distance races and continues Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m.