Nicole Court-Menendez

MITCHELL, S.D. Nicole Court-Menendez had a productive race Saturday afternoon.

The sophomore athlete on the Dakota Wesleyan University track and field team competed in the 5,000-meter race walk at the Central Methodist Invite in Fayetteville, Mo., Saturday. She finished in the top three, set personal and school records and qualified for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Wednesday afternoon, she earned one more accolade after her race.

Court-Menendez, a Lewiston, Maine, native, was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Women s Track Athlete-of-the-Week, it was announced Wednesday by the league. This marks the first GPAC honor of her career, and also the first time a DWU athlete has earned a weekly conference honor since April 2, 2012.

The GPAC honor comes on the heels of one of Court-Menendez s best performances of her career. She took third in the race walk in 27:08.6 Saturday afternoon. That time is a personal best by 40 seconds, a school record and hits the NAIA ‘A standard qualifying mark. It is also the third-best time in the NAIA in the event. Court-Menendez held the previous school record, set last season. She also owns the record in the 3,000-meter indoor race walk.

Court-Menendez is hoping to use a fourth straight trip to nationals to make even more history this May. She is already one of just a handful of athletes to earn three All-American honors in her career, and a fourth straight All-American honor would put her in elite company: only one other DWU track athlete has been named an All American four or more times. Court-Menendez is already the first female indoor All-American in DWU history, and the first female to earn All-American accolades at both the indoor and outdoor national championships in the same season.

The Tiger track team returns to action Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, at the Sioux City Relays in Sioux City, Iowa.