Ruth Usoro picked up Athlete of the Week awards from both the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and the Big 12 Conference Wednesday.
The USTFCCCA awarded Usoro with her second National Women’s Athlete of the Week honor of the year, while the Big 12 named her Women’s Athlete of the Week.
After taking the NCAA Indoor Championship in the triple jump in March, Ruth Usoro made her outdoor triple jump debut in spectacular fashion.
Last Saturday, Usoro broke the school triple jump record in her first appearance at the Fuller Track & Field. On the same jumps runway on which she practices every day, she downed the school mark with a top leap of 13.81m. Then, two jumps later, she landed a monstrous 14.50m which had the record books opening. Usoro’s jump broke the Nigerian record and counts as the sixth-farthest in NCAA history.
She is the number-two performer in NCAA history behind Georgia’s Kenturah Orji, who owns the top-five marks. Usoro’s leap makes her the sixth person in NCAA history to jump over 47 feet.
Ruth Usoro’s third all-time triple jump mark headlined what was a strong day for Texas Tech in its first outdoor home meet in two years.