Quarter-miler Faint is ODAC Athlete of Week; XC runners named to All-Academic team

Eastern Mennonite runner Connor Faint (Winchester, Va./Millbrook) is heading into this Sunday’s ODAC Championships on a high note after being named the ODAC Athlete of the Week.

Faint put together a pair of ODAC top-five times in the sprints at the Roanoke Tune-Up on Friday. He put himself in the conversation for a national bid in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best 49.45 time to finish second overall and tops among NCAA Division III competitors. That time is No. 1 in the ODAC rankings and 15th in the country.

Faint also ran the 200-meter dash, finishing eighth overall in 22.88 seconds. That time moved into fifth on the conference chart. He earned a PR in each of his events at the meet.

This is the third weekly award from the ODAC for the EMU runner, as Faint was twice named the ODAC Athlete of the Week in last spring’s outdoor season. He went on from there to an All-America honor, finishing eighth at Nationals last May in the 400m hurdles.

The Eastern Mennonite track & field teams head to the ODAC Indoor Championships this Sunday, back at the Cregger Center in Salem, Va.

All-Academic awards

EMU’s cross country women have won a handful of All-Academic awards from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Michaela Mast (Broadway, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and Megan Good (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) were named All-Academic as individuals, while the Royals women were given the Team All-Academic award.

In order to be named USTFCCA All-Academic, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) and finish in the top 25% at their respective regional. A team must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional meet and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.10.

Mast finished 16th at the South/Southeast Regional in November, also earning All-Region status. A first-time runner as a senior, Mast finished second at the ODAC Championships to be All-ODAC First Team and was voted as the ODAC Rookie of the Year. She was a two-time ODAC Runner of the Week, also earning the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete award.

Good came in 59th out of 240 women at the regional race, just making it into the top 25% of finishers. The sophomore was 11th at the ODAC Championships, earning All-ODAC Second Team laurels for the second straight year.

As a team, the Eastern Mennonite women finished third at the ODAC Championships and were ninth out of 34 teams at the regional meet.