O’Brien named conference athlete of the week

Central College

PELLA—Central College’s Austin O’Brien (senior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) was named the Iowa Conference male athlete of the week following an MVP performance at the league cross country championship meet Saturday in Pella.

O’Brien led the Dutch to a 1-2-3 individual finish on the 8,000-meter A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex course en route to their second consecutive league title. O’Brien came from behind to take the individual title with a personal-best time of 24:46.8, improving on his previous best by nearly 15 seconds on Central’s home course.

O’Brien was also named the conference men’s cross country runner of the week—his third league honor of the season and his career. He was named runner of the week following his first-place finish at the season-opening Central Dutch Invitational Sept. 7 and following his runner-up finish at the Jim Drews Invitational in West Salem, Wis. Oct. 19.

O’Brien and the No. 9-ranked Dutch are back in action Nov. 16 at the NCAA Division III Central Regional meet at Northfield, Minn.