SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE RELEASE
FRISCO, Texas - The accolades continue to pile up for New Orleans distance athlete
Arina Kleshchukova as she was named the Southland Conference Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this year, announced by the conference offices on Tuesday.
The junior from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan crossed the line in second overall at the Florida State Invitational this past weekend with a new personal best of 17:29.9 for the 5K course. The performance slotted fourth overall in school history for a female athlete at the 5K distance.
The only student-athlete to beat Kleshchukova at the race was individual champion Jessica Pascoe of Florida who finished second at the South Regionals and 32nd in the nation at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships a year ago.
"I'm really impressed with how Arina has handled the attention given to her this year," assistant distance coach Clayton O'Callaghan said. "Last year she was still unknown to many and really had a lot to handle when you think about her moving to a new country, taking up a sport she had never done in cross country and the academic load she had. This year she is clearly the favorite in our conference and she hasn't back away from that pressure. She has been such a great leader for both of our teams."
Kleshchukova has led the Privateers in each of her four races this season as she has compiled four straight top-two finishes, which includes three individual titles.
"After her success last year she was indirectly tabbed as the face of our program and she has handled that attention exceptionally well and has used it as motivation for not only her personal goals but has also challenged every one of her teammates to go after their dreams," O'Callaghan concluded. "She shows up everyday with a smile and it instantly puts the entire group in a better mood. We couldn't ask anymore from here as our leader."
Kleshchukova is still the only athlete in program history to earn a Southland Cross Country Athlete of the Week award since the Privateers joined the conference in 2013.
She is also the first athlete in Southland history to earn the conference's Athlete of the Week award four times during a single season.
Kolyn Saltzman was once again voted a conference honorable mention of the week for the third time this year after he appeared on over 25 percent of the ballots. The junior ran to a 23rd-place finish with a 25:41.6 showing at the Florida State Invitational for the first 8K of his collegiate career. The performance slotted the New Iberia, La. native with the fourth-fastest performance by a male Privateer in program history over an 8K distance.
As a group the New Orleans men's squad took sixth out of 20 scored teams while the women's unit came in 12th out of 24 at the FSU Invitational in one of the largest and strongest fields the Privateers have gone up against in a regular season meet over the past few years.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each institution's sports information director of the sport. Voting for one's own athletes is not permitted.
The Privateers just concluded their regular season and will next toe the line at the Southland Conference Championships, set for Friday, Nov. 1 in Conway, Ark.The NCAA South Central Regional will follow just two weeks later on Friday, November 15 in Fayetteville, Ark.
