NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is pleased to announce its third National Athletes of the Week for the 2016 cross country season.

The USTFCCCA honors athletes from each NCAA division and both NJCAA divisions.

This week’s male honorees are Campbell’s Lawrence Kipkoech (NCAA Division I), Bellarmine’s Chris Striegel(NCAA Division II), UW-Eau Claire’s Darin Lau (NCAA Division III), Central Arizona’s Gilbert Kigen (NJCAA Division I) and Harper’s Scott Williams (NJCAA Division III).

This week’s female honorees are New Hampshire’s Elinor Purrier (NCAA Division I), Grand Valley State’sKendra Foley (NCAA Division II), Johns Hopkins’ Felicia Koerner (NCAA Division III), Iowa Central’s Leanna Pompeani (NJCAA Division 1) and Harper’s Ali Gutt (NJCAA Division III).

Find out more about each of these runners by clicking their names or scrolling below.

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

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.

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.

NCAA DIVISION I — Lawrence Kipkoech, Campbell

Sophomore | Eldoret, Kenya

Past met future in Cary, North Carolina last Friday — at least when it pertains to the National Athlete of the Week honor.

Campbell’s Lawrence Kipkoech went up against Florida State’s Harry Mulenga (NAOTW on September 7) and a host of runners from NC State and Virginia at the Wolfpack Invitational/adidas XC Challenge.

After Kipkoech and Mulenga pulled away, it became a two-man race. Ultimately it was Kipkoech who broke away from Mulenga to earn the win in 17:42.1 over the 6K course. Mulenga finished three seconds back.

Kipkoech, coming off an outdoor track season that saw him place 9th in the 10000 and 17th in the 5000 at NCAAs, is hoping to improve upon his 131st-place finish last year at NCAA XC.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN — Elinor Purrier, New Hampshire

Junior | Montgomery, Vermont

After a breakout track season that saw her finish third in the indoor mile and third in the steeplechase, Elinor Purrier turned her attention to the grass on Friday.

Running against talented competition at the Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown, Purrier won going away against Boston College’s Isabelle Kennedy and Providence’s Sarah Collins. Purrier captured the individual title by seven seconds, crossing the line on the 5K course at Franklin Park in 17:05.

She finished 14th at this meet two years ago and redshirted cross country last year.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN — Chris Striegel, Bellarmine

Junior | Prospect, Kentucky

Striegel emerged as the winner at the National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame this weekend, topping a field filled with nearly 40 teams from all three NCAA Divisions and the NAIA. The junior crossed the line on the five-mile course in 24:56.6, 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Ben Kendell of Detroit. The win comes after Striegel finished seventh at Kentucky last week amidst runners from such DI programs as Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky and Illinois.

He was runner-up at this meet a year ago before ultimately finishing 26th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships for All-America honors.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN — Kendra Foley, Grand Valley State

Senior | Noblesville, Indiana

Kendra Foley was the runaway NCAA DII cross country individual champion in 2014, but was edged out for the 2015 title by last week’s National Athlete of the Week honoree – Alexis Zeis of U-Mary – by .3 of a second.

Her 2016 title reclamation campaign started out with another nailbiter, but this one went in favor of the senior Laker. Making her season debut at the Michigan State Auto Owners Spartan Invitational, Foley outdueled reigning meet champ and former NCAA DI XC Championships fourth-placer Rachele Schulist for the win. Both women covered 6K in 20:54 (with identical mile and two-mile splits of 5:39 and 11:19), but it was Foley who managed to get the better of Schulist at the line.

Foley’s winning time is the fastest the meet has seen since Leah O’Connor ran an identical mark in 2013 – the same academic year she went on to become the NCAA DI steeplechase champion.

Foley will get another shot at some of DI’s top runners – including a potential showdown with Michigan’s Erin Finn – on October 1 at the Greater Louisville Classic. Meanwhile, a rematch with Zeis will have to wait until the NCAA Championships on November 19 in Saint Leo, Florida.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN — Darin Lau, UW-Eau Claire

Junior | Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Coming into the 2016 season, UW-Eau Claire knew it needed to find another ace. With top runner Josh Thorson having graduated, it left a huge hole at the top of its lineup.

Well, after this past weekend, Darin Lau looks like the guy who could fill in nicely.

Running at the St. Olaf Invitational against DIII-ranked St. Olaf and a few DII programs, Lau notched the first XC win of his collegiate career. Lau crossed the finish line in 25:26 to beat St. Olaf’s Joe Coffey by 16 seconds.

To wit: Lau is the only Blugold to win the St. Olaf Invitational.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN — Felicia Koerner, Johns Hopkins

Sophomore | Munich, Germany

Running against a field chock-full of NCAA DI athletes, Felicia Koerner didn’t back down.

Koerner went toe to toe with Iona’s Teghan Henderson at the Brother Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park, but just didn’t have enough. Henderson eventually won the individual title and Koerner settled for second, four seconds back.

A second-place finish was more than enough for Johns Hopkins, though, as it won the team title. The Blue Jays scored 35 points, compared to double that for most of the DI couterparts.

NJCAA DIVISION I MEN — Gilbert Kigen, Central Arizona

Sophomore | Eldoret, Kenya

Gilbert Kigen made it look easy this past weekend at the UC Riverside Invitational.

Kigen, a multiple time National Athlete of the Week last year, picked up his first honor of the season this year with a 15-second victory. He crossed the finish line of the 8K course in 23:37.

Last year Kigen had a dream season, ending with a first-place finish at the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN — Leanna Pompeani, Iowa Central

Sophomore | Canberra, Australia

She’s back again!

Iowa Central’s Leanne Pompeani cruised to a win at the DI-heavy Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska.

Pompeani pulled away early and won by 32 seconds over Kansas State’s Morgan Wedekind. This was the second year in a row that Pompeani won the individual title at this meet.

NJCAA DIVISION III MEN — Ilya Wilson, Suffolk County CC

Freshman | Islip, New York

Ilya Wilson was the best NJCAA finisher at the Queensborough CC Invitational, taking sixth overall. He ran 30:07.8 over five miles to top the next best NJCAA runner by nearly half a minute. The sixth-place effort comes a week after a top-100 finish at the Vassar Ron Stonitsch Invitational.

NJCAA DIVISION III WOMEN — Ali Gutt, Harper College

Sophomore | Schaumburg, Illinois

Ali Gutt claimed National Athlete of the Week honors for the second week in a row after taking 35th-place at the Bradley Intercollegiate. Gutt was the top NJCAA DIII finisher and the second-best non-NCAA DI finisher with a 18:56.8 performance over three miles.