Obadia Tanui named NJCAA ‘Runner of the Week’
It took one event, one race for a Grizzly student athlete to be recognized on the national stage.
Obadia Tanui was named the National Junior College Athletic Association 'Runner of the Week' announced by the association Wednesday afternoon. 
"It means a lot to me," commented Tanui. "It is an honor to be recognized by the NJCAA for what I am doing on the course. It is very special to me."
Tanui, redshirt freshman from Elderot, Kenya, is competing in his first collegiate season of cross country. He was a member of the Butler Indoor Track & Field team last winter but has never competed in cross country at the collegiate level. Tanui finished 8th in the men's Indoor 5000-meter run at the NJCAA Indoor Nationals in early March.
Last week, Tanui led the men to a first-place finish in the Ollie Isom Invitational hosted by Butler Community College. Tanui posted a 4th place finish running a 24:22.27 8000-meter race on the newly created 8K course.
He is looking forward to dropping more time off his next race this coming weekend and to continue to improve all season.
"I am very proud of Obadia for being named national 'Runner of the Week'," said head coach Dustin Mettler. "He works very hard and continues to impress me each and every day. Looking forward to see what the rest of the season has in store for him."
Tanui becomes the first Grizzly to earn an NJCAA 'Runner/Athlete of the Week' honor in the 2020-21 season.