BATON ROUGE – LSU’s junior sprinter Aleia Hobbs continued to rake in the awards Tuesday as she was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association Division I Women’s National Athlete of the Week for a second time this season and the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week for the fourth week in a row.
Hobbs was recognized for her performance at the SEC Relays on Saturday when she anchored LSU to a collegiate-record-tying 42.12 seconds in the 4×100-meter relay before running the second-fastest wind-legal time in collegiate history to win the 100-meter dash with a run of 10.85 (+2.0).
Hobbs was first named the USTFCCCA Division I Women’s National Athlete of the Week on April 11 after opening her 2017 campaign with a previous 100-meter personal best of 11.07 at the Battle on the Bayou.
She picked up her fourth-straight SEC Women’s Runner of the Week honor after also receiving the award on April 11, April 18 and April 25. Hobbs’ selection Tuesday actually marked the fifth-straight week in which LSU has featured the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week as junior Kymber Payne also picked up the award on April 4 following her performance at the Texas Relays.
Hobbs turned in one of the most impressive sprint performances in NCAA history during Saturday’s finale at the SEC Relays as she first stepped onto the track for the 4×100-meter relay in the first event of the day.
She anchored LSU’s women to victory while breaking their own school record and tying Oregon’s collegiate record of 42.12 in the event with Texas A&M finishing well off the pace in second place with a time of 43.01. Hobbs, who ran the anchor leg into a strong headwind on the homestretch at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium, teamed with Mikiah Brisco, Kortnei Johnson and Jada Martin to break their school record of 42.14 set just two weeks before at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 15.
That was just a warm up for Hobbs as she later returned to the track and won the women’s 100 meters with the second-fastest wind-legal time in NCAA history with a personal best of 10.85 (+2.0) to overtake Oregon’s Deajah Stevens (11.00) for the national lead in the event. Hobbs’ 10.85 is the fastest ever by a collegiate sprinter at low-altitude as only the recognized collegiate record of 10.78 by LSU’s Dawn Sowell at the NCAA meet at BYU in 1989 separates the Lady Tiger junior from the top of the NCAA’s all-time rankings.
LSU’S SEC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK FOR 2017
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 24 – Johnnie Jackson
SEC Women’s Runner of the Week
April 4 – Kymber Payne
April 11 – Aleia Hobbs
April 18 – Mikiah Brisco, Aleia Hobbs, Kortnei Johnson, Jada Martin
April 25 – Aleia Hobbs
May 2 – Aleia Hobbs
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 17 – Ruby Stauber
Feb. 14 – Ruby Stauber
Feb. 21 – Nickolette Dunbar
March 21 – Tonea Marshall
April 18 – Ruby Stauber