RICHMOND, Va.- The Atlantic 10 announced their weekly Indoor Track & Field awards Tuesday, with VCU thrower Desi Akaolisa taking home Field Athlete of the Week honors. 

Akaolisa earns the recognition after an impressive performance in two events at the Virginia Tech Invitational over the weekend. She set a personal record 18.57m throw in the weight throw which places her in the top-5 for weight throws in VCU program history. She followed this up with a 13.68m throw in the shot put, leading the Rams in the event. 

With the throws, she now ranks first in the A-10 in both events and wins her first career A-10 weekly award. Akaolisa has now set a personal-record in weight throw in each of her first two meets and becomes the fourth all-time VCU women's thrower to break 18m in the weight throw. 

A McKinney, Texas native, Akaolisa is entering her third season of competition at VCU where she has made strong progress each season. After taking a redshirt season as a freshman, she debuted with the Rams in 2024 where she set a weight throw PR of 17.25m and also finished fourth in the A-10 Indoor Championships for shot put at 13.99m. 

During the 2025 indoor season, she placed 4th in the weight throw and 6th in shot put at the A-10 championships. She looks to continue her strong season with an opportunity to take home a conference championship at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex on Feb. 28. 

The Rams are back in action on Friday, Jan. 23 as they travel to Lynchburg for the Liberty Open. Originally scheduled as a two-day meet, impending inclement weather in Central Virginia has moved the event to Friday only. Akaolisa and the other women's throwers will begin the event with the shot put at 9 a.m., followed by the weight throw at 1:15 p.m.