BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Mississippi College Track and Field received four Gulf South Conference (GSC) Athlete of the Week honors, the most GSC Weekly honors out of any other GSC school for the fourth consecutive week. This also marks the first time this season that any GSC school has received four Track and Field honors in a single week.
Kelechi Christian has been lighting the track on fire, and the GSC has taken notice as she was rewarded with her second consecutive GSC Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors. Her most recent performance at the South Carolina Invitational consisted of two school records in the 200-meter and 400-meter dash, sprinting to provisional standard marks of 24.44 and 56.87, respectively. The Lagos, Nigeria native is now ranked No. 11 in the Women's 200-meter dash and No. 33 in NCAA Division II in the Women's 400-meter dash, and now holds every school record from the 60-meter dash to the 400-meter dash.
The men's team swept the GSC Athlete of the Week honors with Ben Woolhouse receiving the Men's Field Athlete of the Week, Niklas Klei winning the Men's Track Athlete of the Week, and Cooper Parmer being named the Men's Freshman of the Week.
At the Pitt State Invitational, Ben Woolhouse won the Men's Pole Vault over a stacked field in a provisional standard mark of 4.78 meters, just 0.02 meters off of his win and school record of 4.80 meters at the Samford Open. This was the Mississippi College junior's second win and provisional standard mark in a row, and continues to lead the GSC in the event.
At that same meet, Cooper Parmer finished third in section 3 of the Men's 1 mile run in a lifetime best of 4:21.25, earning a top-ten finish overall, and is now the No. 5 Mississippi College freshman performer in the event. The freshman phenom then came back to win section two of the Men's 3,000-meter run in a mark of 8:47.48.
Lastly, At the Pitt State Invitational, Niklas Klei became the first athlete in NCAA Division II this season to break 47 seconds in the Men's 400-meter dash. He won the competition in a lifetime best and school record of 46.92 seconds, and is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II. According to TFRRS records, Klei is the first-ever GSC athlete to break 47 seconds in the indoor 400-meter dash.
Mississippi College Track and Field has consistently been a top-performing program in the GSC, consistently bringing home multiple Athlete of the Week honors each week. They will now set their sights on the 2023 Gulf South Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama , on February 14th and 15th, where they are poised for a strong showing.
