Jenny Hitchings (Sacramento, California) broke the American women’s masters age 55-59 10K road record to earn USATF Athlete of the Week.
Hitchings, 55, was her age group winner at the Run to Feed the Hungry Thanksgiving Day 10K in Sacramento, clocking 37:27. She sliced almost a minute off the previous American record, set in 2014 by Joan Benoit Samuelson. Her mark earned an age-graded performance of 97.29% and follows on the heels of her setting a 55-59 AR for the half marathon in October. Hitchings also claimed national records for the road 5K and 10 miles earlier this year and appeared in the October 8 edition of Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd for those accomplishments.
Other notable performances from the weekend:
Sam Parsons—Parsons won the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5K men’s title in 13:47.
Emily Lipari—Lipari was the women’s winner at the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5K in 16:00.
Sydney Masciarelli — Masciarelli ran the fastest time since 1984 at the Foot Locker Northeast regional at Van Cortlandt Park, clocking 17:12.6 to win by almost five seconds.
Now in its 17th 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 and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2018 Winners: January 4, Brian Herron; January 11, Katelyn Tuohy; January 18, Molly Huddle; January 25, Christian Coleman; February 1, Sonja Friend-Uhl; February 8, Emily Infeld; February 15, Kendra Harrison; February 22, Christian Coleman; March 1, Sydney McLaughlin; March 8, Courtney Okolo; March 15, Da’mira Allen; March 22, Lesley Hinz; March 29, Caitlin Collier; April 4, Sydney McLaughlin; April 11, Maria Michta-Coffey; April 18, Desiree Linden; April 25, Twanisha Terry; May 3, Jenny Simpson; May 10, Galen Rupp; May 17, Tori Franklin; May 24, Robyn Stevens; May 31, Ryan Crouser; June 6, DeAnna Price; June 13, Michael Norman; June 20, Alyssa Wilson; June 27, Shelby Houlihan; July 5, Neil Howard III; July 11, Bernard Lagat; July 18, Eric Harrison Jr.; July 25, Courtney Frerichs; August 3, Sianni Wynn; August 8, Lopez Lomong; August 15, Taylor Ewert; August 23, David Angell; August 30, Ronnie Baker; September 6, Christian Coleman; September 13, DeAnna Price; September 20, Charles Allie; September 27, Katelyn Tuohy; October 3, Sonja Friend-Uhl; October 10, Jeannie Rice; October 17, Grace Stark; October 24, Gene Dykes; October 31, Fiona Bayly; November 7, Emily Sisson; November 14, Zach Bitter; November 21, Dani Jones; November 28, Jenny Hitchings.
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.
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