Simbassa's gold at NACAC Cross Country earns him USATF Athlete of the Week

Abbabiya Simbassa (Colorado Springs, Colorado) won the senior men’s 10K title at the NACAC Cross Country Championships to earn USATF Athlete of the Week.

Simbassa, the fourth-placer at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships in the 10,000m, led a sweep of the top four places by Team USATF, earning the squad a perfect score of 10. Running at Queen’s Park Savannah in Trinidad’s capital of Port of Spain, Simbassa covered the loop course in 31:49 to edge teammates Frankline Tonui (31:50) and Reid Buchanan (31:51). Evans Kirwa was Team USATF’s fourth man in 32:08.
Full results are here.

Other notable performances from the past weekend

• Breanna Sieracki — Sieracki led Team USATF’s senior team to the women’s trophy with a winning 36:34 10K at the NACAC Championships. The U.S. tallied 18 points, two ahead of runners-up Canada.
• Tyrell Richard — A South Carolina State senior, Richard ran a 45.39 to win the 400m at the South Carolina Open in Columbia. That is the second-fastest time by a collegian this season.
• Kortnei Johnson — Johnson equaled the No. 10 time ever by an American collegian in the women’s 60m with her 7.14 at the LSU Twilight.
• Tim Tollefson — Tollefson was the winner of the USATF 50K Trail Championships at Auburn, California, winning by almost six minutes in 3:43:18.

 
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.

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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