Cross Country's Newton Named The American Female Athlete of the Week

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Following her first-place finish at the LSU Invitational on Saturday, senior Emma Newton was named the American Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.

In her second meet of the 2017 season, Newton guided Tulane to its second first-place team finish this year, leading the way through the 5k course and notching a time of 17:43.33 to secure the LSU Invitational women's title. Newton's performance was a near repeat of last season's run at the LSU Invitational, when she posted a time of 17:54.29 to win the event and help the women's team earn a second-place team finish.

"Emma's had a really good last three or four months of training," associate head cross country coach Michael Nussa said. "She's really had the best summer training program of her career, and she came into this season in better shape and more prepared to compete than she ever has before. It's exciting for her to win a race against most of the state of Louisiana, and it's a good step forward for her in her development as we get ready to go into the bigger meets of our season."

Earlier this season, Newton led the women's squad to a third-place finish at the Temple Invitational at Belmont Plateau Park course, which will host the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships, in Philadelphia, Pa. Newton finished sixth (22:30.5) in the 6K event, as three Tulane women's runners finished in the top ten.

"It's a good confidence boost for her going into the Notre Dame meet, which is going to be a higher level of competition," Nussa said. "After having won this race, it should give her a good boost against that competition, and then also as we get into the American conference championships, where she's established herself as being a top-20 athlete in the conference. We're hopeful that this year is going to be the time she breaks through, gets into the top ten and is really a player on the conference level."

Tulane next travels to South Bend, Ind., for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 29, before trekking to Louisville, Ky., to compete at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 14. Both meets give the Green Wave more opportunities to continue its preparations for the American Championships and NCAA South Central Regional Championships, which occur Oct. 28 and Nov. 10, respectively.

Fans can follow along for results on Twitter (@GreenWaveXCTF), Instagram or find the team on Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and @TulaneAthletics on Snapchat.

Cross Country's Newton Named The American Female Athlete of the Week

Players Mentioned

Emma Newton

Footer

Tulane University Athletics