CHARLOTTE, NC – Following a win at the Fort Hays State Tiger Open, Hutchinson Community College women’s cross country runner Ashara Frater has been named the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week.
The award for Frater marks the fourth time this season that the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) women’s cross country Runner of the Week has gone on to win national accolades, and the 31st time since 2019 that a KJCCC women’s cross country runner has been named the NJCAA National Cross Country Runner of the Week.
Frater is now a two-time NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week award winner after being named National Athlete of the Week on September 2nd and is the ninth KJCCC women’s cross country runner in conference history to be named NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week multiple times. Hutchinson women’s cross country runners to earn multiple NJCAA Runner of the Week awards include Faith Jepchirchir (three-time winner), Mildred Rono (two-time winner), and Frater.
Ashara Frater (Hutchinson) – NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Frater earned her second career individual championship to lead the number 13-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s cross country team at the Fort Hays State Tiger Open on Saturday. Frater posted a time of 17:37.71 to win the race by 2.7 seconds over unattached runner Sophia Christensen. Frater, an NJCAA All-American runner as a freshman in 2025, also won the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in August at Fun Valley to begin the 2026 season. Saturday’s time was her second-fastest 5,000-meter time this season, trailing only her time of 17:28.70 at the Chile Pepper Festival on October 3rd.
