Ruon is MIAC Athlete of the Week; Multiple Athletes Get NCC Honors

St. Olaf freshman, Doboul Ruon, was named the MIAC Athlete of the Week after running a personal best of 4:17.84 for the mile at the Tostrud Classic. His time was close to the NCAA Divison III provisional standard for the event of 4:16. A graduate of Northfield High School, Ruon won the event at the Tostrud meet by a little more than a second over teammate David Green. The Division III NCAA Meet is March 14-15 at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. Ruon's time is the fifth fastest in the MIAC this indoor season with St. Thomas junior Matt Boumeester leading the list with a 4:15.56 at the MSU Open on February 2, according to the list compiled by Apple Raceberry Jam. For the entire list, click here.

Ramsey Kavan and Terry Liggins of South Dakota and Denise Mokaya of Minnesota State have been named the North Central Conference Indoor Track Athletes of the Week while Shana Brown of Nebraska-Omaha, Amanda Kunkel of St. Cloud State and Jason Beutz of Minnesota Duluth have been named the North Central Conference Indoor Field Athletes of the Week.

Kavan, a sophomore from Yankton, SD, was part of two school record-breaking performances at the Iowa State Open. She smashed the school mark in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:45.35 (old record: 9:55.97) and was part of the school-record distance medley relay squad that finished second behind Michigan State with a 11:41.51 clocking. Kavan had a 1600-meter split of 4:49.

Liggins, a senior from Omaha, Neb., broke his own DakotaDome record in winning the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 7.98 at the John Dalton meet. The time is an automatic qualifying performance for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Mokaya, a sophomore from Angong, Kenya, motored to a NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 4:07.26 in the mile run at the Iowa State Open. He finished seventh out of 45 competitors.

Brown, a freshman from Carson, Calif., won the long jump with a leap of 5.65 meters at the John Dalton meet. It is the second longest jump in NCC competition this year.

Kunkel, a senior from Eden Prairie, Minn., won both the shot put (45-0 1/2) and weight throw (49-0) at the SCSU Open. The shot put mark is a provisional-qualifying mark.

Beutz, a sophomore from Foley, Minn., won the Lake Superior Challenge with a personal-best height of 15-6 1/4 in the pole vault. The mark is also a provisional-qualifying performance.

Photo Courtesy of St. Olaf College