STORRS, Conn.- Senior Chloe Thomas continued her outstanding start to the cross country season, as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named her M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week on Monday, October 7^th. 

After winning the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational on September 13^th and setting a meet record in the 6K race with a time of 19:51.8 at Penn State, Thomas further cemented herself as a standout runner on the national stage. 

At the 50^th Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University last Saturday, Thomas pulled away from the competitive field in the Women's College Gold 6K race. The senior from Dundas, Ontario won the race with a time of 19:23.8, defeating the rest of the field by over thirty seconds. Thomas set her second consecutive course record, shattering the previous mark by ten seconds. Thomas's individual win boosted the Huskies to placing second as a team at the Paul Short Run, out of a strong 42-team field. 

Up Next: UConn heads up to Hopkinton, New Hampshire on Friday, October 11^th for the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup. For more UConn Cross Country and Track & Field news, follow the Huskies on X, Instagram, and Facebook. 

'National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 14 collegiate cross country athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and the NJCAA).

Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.

The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors will also play a role in the decision.