INDIANAPOLIS -- Leonard Korir (Colorado Springs, Colorado) ran the fastest U.S. men’s marathon debut ever to earn USATF Athlete of the Week for the second time this year.
Korir, who was third in the 10,000m at the USATF Outdoors in Des Moines and 13th at the World Championships in Doha, moved up to the marathon for the first time at Amsterdam and clocked 2:07:56. That was the fastest debut effort ever by an American man and moved Korir to No. 5 on the all-time U.S. performer list. Korir placed 11th overall in Amsterdam. Earlier this year in Pittsburgh, he won the USATF half marathon title in 61:53, and Korir also won the USATF 20K Championships as well as the Falmouth Road Race.
Full results are here.
Other notable performances from the past week:
Alicia Monson — Monson won the women’s individual title by more than nine seconds at the Nuttycombe Invitational on her home course in Madison, Wisconsin, covering the 6K distance in 19:39.3.
Conner Mantz — Mantz won the men’s 8K race at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, leading BYU to a team victory with his 23:20.8 victory.
Dani Moreno — Moreno won the women’s gold at the NACAC Mountain Running Championships in Mexico to lead Team USATF to the title.
Andy Wacker — Wacker’s individual win in the men’s race at the NACAC Mountain Running Championships propelled Team USATF to a runner-up finish.
Now in its 18th 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.
2019 Winners: January 9, Nick Christie; January 16, Hillary Bor; January 23, Taylor Ewert; January 30, Devin Dixon; February 6, Alison Wood; February 13, Ajee’ Wilson; February 20, Abbabiya Simbassa; February 27, Athing Mu; March 6, Neringa Jakstiene; March 13, Grant Holloway; March 20, Robyn Stevens; March 27, Deena Kastor; April 3, Irene Obera; April 10, Stanley Kebenei; April 17, Israel Merkle; April 24, Ryan Crouser; May 1, Emily Sisson; May 8, Kayla White; May 15, Parker Stinson; May 22, Kenny Bednarek; May 29, Sha’Carri Richardson; June 6, Brooke Andersen; June 12, Sha’Carri Richardson; June 19, Kayla Davis; June 26, Jordan Gray; July 3, Will Claye; July 10, Noah Lyles; July 17, Florence Meiler; July 24, Matthew Boling; July 31, Dalilah Muhammad; August 7, Cory McGee; August 14, Kara Winger; August 21, Leonard Korir; August 28, Will Claye; September 4, Donavan Brazier; September 11, Sara Hall; September 18, Kate Grace; October 10, Dalilah Muhammad; October 17, Jacques Sallberg; October 24, Leonard Korir.
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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