AMHERST, N.Y. - Track and field athletes Niko Jemmison (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Technical) and Kathryn Gross (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) have been named the Bedore Tours Student-Athletes of the Month for April - the final such honorees for the 2013-14 academic year.
Jemmison, a freshman sprinter, was a double all-conference performer at the East Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on April 19, earning first team All-ECC honors for the 400 meter dash and second team All-ECC accolades in the 200 meter dash. He finished fourth in the 200 meter dash, running that race in 23.14 seconds, before earning a runner-up finish in the 400 meter dash, setting school and personal records in the process with a time of 51.14 seconds.
He went on to win both events at the Brockport Golden Eagle Run a week later - the team's final event of the season - running the 200 and 400 in 23.18 and 53.57 seconds, respectively. The results at Brockport gave him six top-10 finishes in the month. He finished ninth in the 400 at the ROC City Invitational on April 12 and 10th in the same event at the University of Rochester Alumni Invitational on April 5.
Gross, a senior sprinter, set new personal and school records for the 100 meter dash in back-to-back weeks, culminating at the Brockport Golden Eagle Run where she was the event runner-up by running the first sub-13-second race in team history (12.96 seconds). She also won the 200 meter dash at Brockport, coming in with a top time of 27.57 seconds.
This came a week after she had set school and personal records in the 100 meter dash at the ECC championship meet, running that race in 13.06 seconds which placed her fifth and just outside of all-conference range. She added an 11th-place finish in the 200 meter dash as well (27.35 seconds).
Gross opened the month by winning the 100 meter dash at the ROC City Invitational on April 12 with a time of 13.21 seconds. She also added an eighth-place finish in the 200 meter dash (27.33 seconds), giving her five top-10 finishes for the month.