OFFICIAL SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE RELEASE
FRISCO, Texas - After claiming a victory in the opening meet of the season, New Orleans's
Arina Kleshchukova was named the first Southland Conference Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week of the 2019 campaign as announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
The standout junior won the New Orleans XC Opener by more than 28 seconds after she posted a 14:23.4 over the 4K course this past Friday at local Lake Oaks Park. It was the first individual cross country victory by a women Privateer since Ruth Jepchirchir won the Sun Belt Conference Championships on October 29, 2005, which broke a streak of 14 seasons.
Kleshchukova set a new personal best in the 4K distance by 1 minute and 59 seconds with her performance. It was also the first victory of her career as she paced New Orleans to a third-place finish behind Tulane and Nicholls with 56 points.
"Congratulations to Arina on her continuous accomplishments," New Orleans distance coach Brock Moreaux said. "Arina enjoys every aspect of her running; the practices, the meets and the bond with teammates. She also embraces competition fiercely. We are extremely proud of her and what she accomplished this past Friday and look forward to what's still yet to come."
It is the second time that the Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan native has earned the weekly conference award, as she also captured the honor back on Oct. 16, 2018.
Kleshchukova is still the only New Orleans athlete, male or female, to win the weekly award since the Privateers joined the Southland in 2014.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school's sports information director of the sport. Voting for one's own athletes is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.
Kleshchukova and the Privateer men's and women's squads are off this week but will return to the course on Saturday, Sept. 14 with the Allstate Sugar Bowl Cross Country Festival in City Park in New Orleans.
