INDIANAPOLIS -- Finishing second overall and winning the women's 55-59 age group at the 2024 USATF Masters Half Marathon Championships, Fiona Bayly (New York, NY/USATF New York) earned recognition as the 31st USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.
Bayly, 57, ran a superb race to finish second behind 43-year-old Tera Moody, clocking 1:24:51 on the course around Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. She had an age-grading score of 93.79%, the second highest of all female finishers. Bayly won her age division by more than seven minutes. Third at the 10K mark, Bayly moved up in the second half of the race and passed Natasha Yaremchuk, 44, in the final two miles to nab the runner-up spot by 20 seconds. At last year's championships, Bayly won the 55-59 title in 1:25:03.
Other top performances from last week:
Craig Godwin, 57, won the men's 55-59 division at the USATF Masters Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis, clocking 1:16:11 for an age grading score of 90.90%, the best of all male finishers.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry of BYU won the women's individual 5km title at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational cross country meet by six seconds in 15:57.5.
Jack Bowen, a Tennessee high schooler, won the boys' title at the Nike XC Town Twilight meet in Terre Haute with a 14:41.7 5km time.
Utah high schooler Jane Hedengren won the girls' 5km title at the Nike XC Town Twilight meet in Terre Haute by 10 seconds in 16:50.7.
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.
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.
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