Albertson's marathon effort earns him USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Finishing seventh overall and moving to eighth on the all-time U.S. performer list with his 2:08:17 at the Chicago Marathon, CJ Albertson (Fresno, CA/USATF Central California) earned recognition as the 32nd USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.

Albertson, who finished fifth in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon in Orlando in February, chopped almost two minutes off the PB 2:10:07 he had set there with his Chicago performance, and he jumped into the all-time U.S. top 10.

Going through 10K in 30:02, just off the pace of the top American at that point, Zach Panning, Albertson was even with Panning at the halfway point, passing that mark in 63:20 as the pair were a minute outside the top 10. He stayed near Panning through 30K in 1:30:13 but dropped back over the next 5K segment to trail him by 14 seconds. In the final miles, Albertson picked up his pace and went past Panning, moving up to eighth overall at 40K in 2:01:34 before picking off one more runner in the final kilometer.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Susanna Sullivan became the No. 10 all-time U.S. performer in the women's marathon with her 2:21:56 at Chicago. Sullivan was the top American finisher, placing seventh.
• Casey Clinger of BYU won the individual men's title and led a sweep of the top five places at the Bill Dellinger Invitational to give his school a perfect score of 15. Clinger clocked 22:54.8 for the 8km course.
• Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High School set a course record of 16:24.2 to win the individual girls title by seven seconds at the ASICS Clovis Invitational cross country meet in California.
• Joe Barrett won his second straight Eastern States title at the Manhattan High School XC Invitational in New York City, leading his Christian Brothers Academy squad to a dominant win.
• Sara Hall, 41, had the best age-grading score of all U.S. masters entrants at the Chicago Marathon, tallying 92% for her 2:30:12 that garnered her 18th place overall in the women's race.

Now in its 23rd 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.

2024 Winners: January 17, Weini Kelati; January 24, Cooper Teare; January 31, Nico Young; February 7, Fiona O'Keeffe; February 14, Elle St. Pierre; February 21, Grant Holloway; February 28, Jalani Davis; March 6, Elle St. Pierre; March 13, Rachel Glenn; March 20, Grant Fisher; March 27, Myrle Mensey; April 3, Jordan Davis; April 10, Hillary Bor; April 17, Jacious Sears; April 24, Christian Miller; May 1, Payton Otterdahl; May 8, Gabby Thomas; May 15, Ja'Kobe Tharp; May 22, Rai Benjamin; May 29, Joe Kovacs; June 5, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone; June 12, McKenzie Long; July 10, Valarie Allman; July 17, Rai Benjamin; July 24, Quincy Wilson; September 4, Ja'Kobe Tharp; September 11, Grant Holloway; September 18, Nora Cary; September 25, Jessica McClain; October 2, Brittany Brown; October 9, Fiona Bayly; October 16, CJ Albertson.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.
 
Photo Credit: Kevin Morri