SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 23, 2025) – The Conference of New England (CNE) office has released their Athlete of the Week awards for the past week's performances. The Golden Bears see three student-athletes collect individual awards, and one men's relay team collect the Relay Team of the Week award after the team's two meets last week.
The women's track and field team saw two of their student-athletes honored on Tuesday, Kayla Kyles and Fallon Lynch, who both earned Rookie of the Week awards. Kayla Kyles earns the Women's Field Rookie of the Week honor after Kyles had a great week in the long and triple jump events. First, Kyles placed third in the women's Long Jump event at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on Sunday, 4/13, with a jump of 5.01m. Then, Kyles placed sixth in the women's triple jump event, with a jump of 9.63m at that same meet. A fifth-place finish followed that performance in the women's long jump event at the Bonnie Edmondson Classic on Friday, 4/18. The Springfield, Massachusetts, resident jumped a mark of 5.19m, which was a New England Division III qualifying mark for that event. Fallon Lynch earned the Track Rookie of the Week honor after Lynch excelled in both meets for WNE last week. Lynch earned a fourth-place finish in the women's 400m race on Sunday, 4/13, at the Jerry Gravel Invitational. Lynch earned a time of 1:04.55. Lynch also ran the women's 200m race and placed fourth, with a time of 27.50. The Palmer, Massachusetts native also helped the women's 4x100m relay team place second in the event at the Jerry Gravel Invitational with a time of 56.27. At the Bonnie Edmondson Classic on Friday, 4/18, Lynch placed fourth out of 21 runners in the 400m race, earning a time of 1:02.95. Then, Lynch placed 16th out of 49 runners in the 200m race with a time of 28.10.
The men's track & field team saw one runner honored for an individual award and then saw their men's 4x400m team get recognized for their performance at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on 4/13. Nolan Palmer earned the Men's Track Rookie of the Week based on performances in both meets WNE participated in last week. Palmer placed third in the 400m hurdles at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on Sunday, 4/13, with a time of 1:00.53. Palmer also assisted the men's 4x400m team in placing second at that meet, out of seven other relay teams, with a time of 3:31.85. The Plymouth, Massachusetts native then ran the 400m hurdles at the Bonnie Edmondson Classic on Friday, 4/18. Palmer placed fourth with a time of 57.55, which earned Palmer a place in the New England Division III Championships. The Men's 4x400m relay team, which consisted of Nolan Moore, Jordie Morgan, Nicholas Smith, and Nolan Palmer, was recognized as the Men's Relay Team of the Week in the CNE after their performance at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on Sunday, 4/13. The team of Moore, Morgan, Smith, and Palmer ran a time of 3:31.85 to finish second out of seven teams in the event. They just outran the Westfield State team by .06 seconds to claim that second-place finish, with Palmer being the final WNE runner of that race, who was able to hold off the Owls.
The Men's and Women's Track and Field teams will be back in action on Saturday, April 26, 2025, when the team travels to Wenham, Massachusetts, for the Conference of New England Championships, hosted by Gordon College, starting at 10:00 AM.
