Trio of Cavalier Fall Sports athletes earn weekly honors

Posted on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020, 8:32 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Realtions

Three Virginia fall sports athletes — senior Rohann Asfaw (cross country), junior defender Claire Constant (women’s soccer) and sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen (field hockey) — each claimed weekly honors for their performances in their respective sports last week.

Asfaw was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Men’s Athlete of the Week, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Asfaw (Rockville, Md.) is the first Cavalier to earn the honor for cross country in program history and the first male ACC athlete to do so since Syracuse’s Justyn Knight was selected during the 2017 season.

Asfaw opened the 2020 season on Friday with the fastest 8k time at the Virginia Invite at Panorama Farms in Earlysville.  He won the race with an eight-second gap over second place, finishing the meet with a time of 24:03.1. The career-best run by Asfaw led Virginia to a first-place finish in the competition against ACC competitors North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Constant was named the Co-ACC Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.

Constant (Alexandria, Va.) shared the honor with North Carolina’s Maycee Bell.

The Virginia defender helped lift the Cavaliers to a 1-0 victory at Virginia Tech last week when she hit the golden goal in the 94th minute. Constant’s game winner came off a corner kick served into the box by freshman Lia Godfrey to give Virginia the victory.

Defensively, Constant helped the Cavaliers turn in the shutout from her center back position as she played the full time.

Henriksen was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week in honors announced on Tuesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Henriksen (Falls Church, Va.) tallied 12 saves in two matches last weekend versus Wake Forest, including a career-high nine in Saturday’s tough 2-1 non-conference loss to the Demon Deacons. She registered her first career shutout while making three saves as the Cavaliers opened ACC play with a 1-0 win on Sunday.

This is the first player of the week honor for Henriksen.