Radocaj, Cheever Earn Big Ten Accolades

University of Minnesota women's tracksters Ruby Radocaj and Jamie Cheever were accorded Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors after leading Minnesota to the team title at the Oregon Pepsi Team Invitational on Saturday, the program announced.

Radocaj shares the Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week with Indiana heptathlete Abbie Stechschulte, while Cheever is the co-Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week with Iowa distance runner Diane Nukuri.

For Radocaj, the award is the first of her career. Radocaj, a senior from Williamsport, Pennsylvania broke a 13-year old Minnesota record in the javelin with a throw of 187-6, a mark that ranks as the top throw in the nation this season and betters the Olympic Trials “A” standard. The Gopher All-American broke the long-standing record of 183-2 by Heather Berlin in 1995.

Cheever, a junior from Minneapolis, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:11.33. Cheever’s winning time cut nearly 10 seconds off her previous best and is the second-fastest steeplechase in Gopher history behind Emily Brown's 9:56.62. Cheever was honored as the conference Athlete of the Week once during the indoor season.