{"id":20311,"date":"2025-04-18T07:04:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=20311"},"modified":"2025-04-18T07:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:04:19","slug":"harding-students-win-gac-athlete-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2025\/04\/18\/harding-students-win-gac-athlete-of-the-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Harding students win GAC Athlete of the Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Written by Julia Jenkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Great American Conference announced Everett Mumme and Caledon Ruwende as the men\u2019s track &amp; field athletes of the week for week four of the outdoor season. Ruwende took the award for track and Mumme for field. Both athletes have worked hard to receive this honor and were able to make their performances stand out compared to their competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat really made this performance stand out was how everything came together at the right time,\u201d Ruwende said. \u201cI felt explosive out of the blocks, my transitions were smooth and I finished strong. It was one of those meets where the focus, adrenaline and training all clicked, and I left it all on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even with less than ideal weather conditions, Ruwende ran personal bests of 10.33 in the 100m and 21.06 in the 200m sprints and claimed NCAA provisional marks in both events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mumme\u2019s reaction to receiving this award was to give all glory to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy reaction to this award just goes straight to praise in God because without Him I couldn\u2019t do any of this, and he guides me always, so Praise God,\u201d Mumme said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mumme cleared 5.11m, moving into second place on the GAC performance list and fifth on the Division II leaderboard, as well as earning a personal best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both athletes have worked hard and their training has been a major part in bringing them to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTraining has been intense and focused. We&#8217;ve been working on fine-tuning mechanics \u2014 starts, drive phase, top-end speed and race strategy,\u201d Ruwende said. \u201cThere&#8217;s also been a strong emphasis on strength, mobility and recovery to stay healthy throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mumme explained the role his coaches have had in pushing him to perform well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy coaches have been a big impact in my technique and training cycles to allow for me to be competitive and consistent,\u201d Mumme said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ruwende also described the importance of working alongside his teammates throughout this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy teammates have been like family. We push each other daily, and their energy keeps the fire alive, especially on those tough days,\u201d Ruwende said. \u201cIt\u2019s a true team effort, and I\u2019m grateful for their support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both athletes have performed incredibly well in this season, but they know the work is not finished yet. Their goals are to reach nationals, continue beating their own personal bests and stay consistent in their hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery race is a chance to improve, and I\u2019m staying locked in mentally and physically to finish the season strong,\u201d Ruwende said. \u201cI know there\u2019s still more in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Julia Jenkins The Great American Conference announced Everett Mumme and Caledon Ruwende as the men\u2019s track &amp; field athletes of the week for week four of the outdoor&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}