Week 6: Cross Country Athletes of the Week

Men's Runner of the Week:

 Jackson Martingayle, LSU

Martingayle was LSU's top performer in the men's 8K race, placing ninth with a time of 24:38.9 at the Florida State Cross Country Open. The Tigers placed fifth as a team with 154 points. Martingayle placed ninth in a field of 299 competitors.

Women's Runner of the Week:

 Michaela Rose, LSU

Rose led the LSU women to a first-place team finish Friday at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. Rose, a biochemistry major, placed second in the individual standings with a career-best time of 17:16.60 in the women's 5,000-meter race. She cut nearly 11 full seconds off of her previous best 5,000-meter time, which was 17:27.10 at the LSU Invitational on September 23. Rose's second-place finish at Florida State and her third-place performance in the LSU Invitational helped pace the Tigers to team titles in both events.

Men's Freshman of the Week:

 Dyllon Nimmers, LSU

Nimmers was the top freshman finisher for LSU with a time of 25:49.5 at the Florida State Cross Country Open. He placed in the top-10 among all freshman in the race. The field included a total of 299 competitors in the men's race with more than 30 schools represented.

Women's Freshman of the Week:

 Gabriella Gait-Smith, South Carolina

Gait-Smith has continued to be near the top of the leaderboard for the Gamecocks since her debut at Winthrop and that did not change over the weekend in Charlotte. Gait-Smith turned in a 13th-place finish in Charlotte, N.C., including finishing 11th among attached runners with a time of 18:11.5. The South Africa native set a new personal record for the 5K for the third consecutive meet with her performance on Friday.