Sisson’s half marathon record earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Bettering the American record* in the women’s half marathon, Emily Sisson (Flagstaff, Arizona) earned recognition as the 18th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2022.
 
Sisson dominated the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis with a 67:11 clocking that clipped four seconds off the previous record that was set by Sara Hall at Houston in January. Winning the race by more than six minutes, Sisson went to the lead right away, hitting the 5 km mark in 15:54 and 10 km in 31:57. A 15:57 over the third 5 km put her at 47:54 and she maintained her tempo to cover the next 5 km in 15:58 before finishing strongly to claim the best time ever run by an American woman.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Anna Hall of Florida won the USATF Combined Events Championships heptathlon with an American collegiate record and world-leading score of 6,458 points. Her 2:03.11 800m to close out the seven-eventer is the fourth-fastest ever by a heptathlete.
• Garrett Scantling moved to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. performer list and No. 7 on the world all-time performer list with his world-leading 8,867 decathlon score to win the USATF Combined Events Championships.
• Abdihamid Nur of Northern Arizona broke a collegiate record that had stood since 1978, clocking 13:06.32 in the men's 5,000m at the Sound Running Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano, California.
• Colleen Milliman, 95, established a world masters women's 95-99 best in the mile at the Hayward Classic in Eugene with her 13:46.13.
• Lex Young of Newbury Park High School in California ran the fastest 5,000m ever by an American U18 athlete with a 13:43.95 at the Sound Running Track Meet.

*Pending verification by the USATF Records Committee.
 
Now in its 21st year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
 
2022 Winners: January 10, Alicia Monson; January 17, Keira D’Amato; January 24, Nyckoles Harbor; January 31, Elle Purrier St. Pierre; February 7, Chris Nilsen; February 14, Grant Fisher; February 21, Camille Herron; February 28, Cole Hocker; March 7, Grant Fisher; March 14, Randolph Ross; March 21, Grant Holloway; March 28, Anna Hall; April 4, Natalie Cook; April 11, Valarie Allman; April 18, Gabby Thomas; April 25, Robyn Stevens; May 2, Erriyon Knighton; May 9, Emily Sisson.
 
We welcome your nominations!
 
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to communications@usatf.org.
 
Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.