CLEVELAND, Ohio - Toledo's Athena Welsh has been named Mid-American Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week, announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Welsh finished in second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus. Her debut time of 10:26.96 is good enough for sixth all-time in the event at Toledo and currently places her in the 27th qualifying position for the NCAA East Regional. 

The Louisville, Ohio native is one of nine MAC automatic qualifiers in the 3,000m steeplechase, joining teammates Zita Molnar (10:35.03), Stephanie Barlow (10:46.40) and Olivia Chinn (10:52.43).

Welsh is the first Rocket to be named to the weekly awards this spring.

The Rockets compete in the Hillsdale GINA Relays starting on Thursday, April 27 and finishing on Saturday, April 29.