Following a dominating victory this past Saturday at the FHSU Tiger Open, Lydia Mato of the No. 8 ranked Barton Community College women's cross country team was named the NJCAA Division I Female National Athlete of the Week as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.   

Mato lead from start to finish claiming the Black 5k race title in 17:44.50 dominating the competition by over a minute faster than the nearest competitor.  Not being pushed throughout the race Mato's time was well slower than last week's school record 17:15 but still ranks in the top five and would have finished third in the Gold race held later in the day. 

Mato and the Lady Cougars will spend the next few weeks preparing for the Region VI Championships to be held Saturday, October 31, in Overland Park, KS. 

More regarding the USTFCCCA awards can be found at:  http://www.ustfccca.org/2015/10/featured/ncaa-njcaa-national-athletes-of-the-week-oct-12