Penn State, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington Win Weekly Women’s Indoor Track and Field Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has announced its Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week for the week of Jan. 14-21, 2026.  

Co-Track Athletes of the Week  
Hayley Kitching, Penn State 
Senior – Mid-distance – Coffs Harbour, Australia – Major: Biobehavioral Health 

• Set the official collegiate record in the women’s 1000-meter at the Nittany Lion Challenge with a time of 2:38.45 
• Her time broke former Nittany Lion danae River’s record set in 2019 and improved upon her PR by over a second 
• Last Penn State Indoor Track Athlete of the Week award: Hayley Kitching (Feb. 5, 2025) 

Chloe Foerster, Washington 
Senior – Mid-distance – Portland, Ore. – Major: Biology 

• Ran the third-fastest time in NCAA history in the 1,000m at the UW Preview with a time of 2:37.79 
• While her time does not count as a collegiate record due to Dempsey’s oversized track, Foerster took second to 2024 U.S. Olympian Juliette Whittaker, who narrowly beat her. 
• Last Washington Indoor Track Athlete of the Week award: Amina Maatoug (Feb. 26, 2025) 

Field Athlete of the Week 
Anthonett Nabwe, Minnesota 
RS Junior – Throws – Monrovia, Liberia/Jamestown, N.D. – Major: Kinesiology 

• Won the Graduate Classic weight throw with a toss of 23.26m (76-3 ¾)  
• Marked Nabwe’s 11^th straight regular season competition win in the weight throw 
• Her mark is best in the NCAA this season with the current No. 2 toss being 22.95m  
• The standout was also runner-up in the shot put with a mark of 16.86m (55-3 ¾)  
• This marks Nabwe’s second Indoor Field Athlete of the Week award this season 

Freshman of the Week 
Emmry Ross, Michigan 
Freshman – Mid Distance –Onsted, Mich. – Major: Applied Exercise Science 

• Ran a 2:04.52 800m to win the Simmons-Harvey Invitational 
• Her 800m time is No. 7 in program history, No. 4 in the NCAA, and No. 2 in the Big Ten 
• Last Michigan Indoor Freshman of the Week award: Abigail Russell (Jan. 15, 2025) 

2025-26 Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week 

Dec. 10 
Track: Tayissa Buchanan, PSU 
Field: Anthonett Nabwe, MINN 
Freshman:  Diana Cherotich, ORE 

Dec. 17 
Track: Dymonde Nave, IOWA 
Field: Axelina Johansson, NEB 
Freshman:  Izzy Zahn, IOWA 

Jan. 14 
Track: Aniya Mosley, OSU 
Field: Sophia Beckmon, ILL 
Freshman: Caila Lyons, Iowa/Zeal Kuku, MINN 

Jan. 21 
Track: Hayler Kitching, PSU/Chloe Foerster, WASH 
Field: Anthonett Nabwe, MINN 
Freshman: Emmry Ross, MICH