Oct. 21, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Auburn's Holly Knight and Girma Mecheso have been named Female Athlete and Male Freshman of the Week, respectively, the Southeastern Conference announced Tuesday. Knight receives the honor for the first time in her career, while Mecheso earns his second rookie nod.
Knight finished as the Pre-Nationals Blue Race runner-up on Oct. 18. She edged Washington's Kendra Schaaf 20:13.4 to 20:14.7 to earn her third top-five finish in as many races. Knight improved upon her performance at the Tiger Invitational on Oct. 4. Facing a highly regarded Washington team, the sophomore Tiger finished fourth behind Schaaf and a pair of other Huskies. It was Knight who was able to take the upper hand at Pre-Nationals by beating all three of the Washington runners across the line.
Knight's race featured 41 teams, totaling 278 individuals.
Her time of 20:14.7 was a career-best 6K for the sophomore. Knight's previous was 21:18.75 that came during her freshman campaign.
True freshman Mecheso placed fifth in the 8K Pre-National White Race and was just two seconds behind teammate Felix Kibioywo, in 23:37.50. There were 267 runners representing 40 teams in the White Race.
He was one of two freshmen to finish among the top five and for the third time this season, Mecheso placed in the top 10.
The Tigers will next travel to the SEC Championship on Nov. 3, in Starkville, Miss.