Glenn's collegiate record earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Setting an American collegiate record to win the NCAA indoor title in the women's high jump, Rachel Glenn (Fayetteville, Arkansas/USATF Arkansas) earned recognition as the 9th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.

Glenn, an Arkansas sophomore and a multi-talented athlete who is among the NCAA top 25 in the 60 hurdles and 200, cleared six straight heights on her first attempts before needing two tries at 1.97/6-5.5. She then tickled the bar at 2.00/6-6.75, but it stayed on and she watched Texas A&M's Lamara Distin take three unsuccessful attempts at that height, sealing the victory for Glenn.

Her winning height tied her with Distin, a Jamaican, for the collegiate record, and gave her the absolute American collegiate record as the best height cleared indoors or outdoors. It tied her for No. 3 on the all-time U.S. indoor performer list and made her the No. 7 all-time indoor/outdoor American performer.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Nico Young won the men's 3000 and 5000 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, clocking a meet record 7:41.01 in the 3000 and 13:25.29 in the 5000.
• Parker Valby won the women's 3000 and 5000 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, setting a collegiate record of 14:52.79 in the 5000 and a meet record of 8:41.50 in the 3000. She moved to No. 9 on the all-time U.S. performer list in the 5000.
• Elizabeth Leachman won the two miles and 5000 at the Nike Indoor Nationals, bettering the ratified American U20 indoor record* in the longer race with her 15:28.90. Her two-mile time of 9:44.16 puts her No. 2 on the all-time high school indoor performer list.
• Quincy Wilson broke the boys' high school indoor 400 record with a 45.76 at the New Balance Nationals, slicing .16 off the previous record, which was set in 2004.
• Drew Griffith broke the high school boys' indoor national record in the two-mile by more than four seconds with an 8:34.91 at the New Balance Nationals.
• Daniel Simmons broke the national high school indoor record in the boys' 5000 by almost 18 seconds with a 13:38.86 at the New Balance Nationals.
• JaMeesia Ford bettered the world U20 record in the women's 200 with a 22.34 to win the NCAA indoor title. She also anchored South Carolina's 4x400 to victory with a 50.73 split.

*All records subject to verification by the USATF Records Committee
 
Now in its 23rd 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 when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2024 Winners: January 17, Weini Kelati; January 24, Cooper Teare; January 31, Nico Young; February 7, Fiona O'Keeffe; February 14, Elle St. Pierre; February 21, Grant Holloway; February 28, Jalani Davis; March 6, Elle St. Pierre; March 13, Rachel Glenn.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

Join the conversation with USATF on X, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.