INDIANAPOLIS – Former Olympic women’s marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson of Freeport has been named USA Track and Field’s athlete of the week after setting an American record for the W50 age group Sunday at the 2008 USA 5-km Championships at Providence, R.I.

Samuelson covered the course in an age-group record 17 minutes, 25 seconds to place 22nd overall in the championship field. The previous record of 17:28 was set by Shirley Matson in 1991.