Mount Vernon senior Marissa Rutter has had an outstanding season running track for the Yellow Jackets, and last week she was a huge part of the third place finish at the Hank Smith Invitational with two golds, a silver and a bronze medal.

Rutter’s strong performance there, as well as during a dual meet against Lexington, has earned her the Mount Vernon News Athlete of the Week Award.

“Marissa is deserving of Athlete of the Week because of the achievements and improvements made so far this season,” Coach Kathy Thayer said. “She has set new personal records in both of the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. Her times in the relays are also improving.”

At the Hank Smith Invitational, Rutter won the 110 meter hurdles with a personal record time of 14.97. She also had a PR in the 300 meter hurdles, clocking in at 47.08 to take another gold. Rutter won the bronze in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.57. Rutter was also on the silver medal winning 4x400 meter relay team, which had a time of 4:18.22.

At the Lexington meet, the 4x100 meter team took the win with a time of 51.55. Rutter had the fastest leg at 11.94. She also won the 400 meters with a time of 1:03.20.

“Marissa is driven and goal oriented,” said Coach Thayer. She's set the bar high for herself and works to meet those goals. Her mindset is one of her biggest strengths. She is a hard worker and doesn't let competition scare her. She was third out of 40 athletes in the 100 this last weekend, an event she's never run in an invitational. She knows what it means to carry a heavy workload in competitions, and mentally and physically trains and prepares for these situations.”

Congratulations to Marissa Rutter and good luck the rest of the season!