UIC Ehrhardt, Youngstown State's Rupe Earn Cross Country Runner of the Week Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC junior Tess Ehrhardt (Geveva, Ill.) has been named Horizon League Women’s Runner of the Week, while Youngstown State junior Eric Rupe (Cortland, Ohio) has been named Horizon League Men’s Runners of the Week for the week of Oct. 7-13.

Make it three in a row for Ehrhardt. The junior has been named the Horizon League Women’s Runner of the Week for the third time in as many weeks.

Ehrhardt finished in first-place among Division I runners, and second-place overall at the Lucian Rose Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. Ehrhardt finished the 5K race in a time of 17:35.7, shattering her previous personal best of 17:44.30. Ehrhardt lead the Flames to a 10th place overall finish. Samantha Johnson of Ferris State led the field of 294 runners with a time of 17:25.5.

Rupe registered his second win of the season, besting a field of 152 runners at the Disney World Cross Country Classic in Orlando, Fla. His first win of the season came on Sept. 5 at the Tommy Evans Invitational.

The junior ran a personal best 8K time of 25:05.46 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to beat Nick Fresenko of Malone by 10.4 seconds. The junior led the Penguins to a second-place finish. This is the second time this season Rupe has been named Horizon League Men’s Runner of the Week.

Both teams are back in action this Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind. for the ISU Pre-National Invitational.

Top Runners of the Week:
Ally Anich, Milwaukee (Fr., Racine, Wis.) - Finished in 17th overall place at the Lucian Rose Invitational. Completed the course in a 5K time of 18:25.4, leading the Panthers to a fourth-place finish in the Division I field.
Jenae Curley, Oakland (Sr., Marysville, Mich.) - Led the Golden Grizzlies to a fifth-place finish at the Michigan Intercollegiate. Completed the 5K course in a time of 19:27.15 to finish in 18th place.
Tori Holt, Cleveland State (Jr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) - Led the Vikings to a fourth-place finish at the Slippery Rock Invite. Completed the 6K course in a time of 24:29, good for sixth-place.
Anna Pompeo, Youngstown State (Sr., Poland, Ohio) - Led the Penguins to a fourth-place finish at the Disney World Cross Country Classic. Turned in a personal best 5K time of 17:45.70 to finish in sixth-place.
Photis Karkalis, UIC (Jr., Mount Prospect, Ill.) - Finished in 29th place at the Lucian Rose Invitational with an 8K time of 26:10.9. The Flames finished in eighth-place overall.
Alex West, Oakland (Fr.) - Led the Golden Grizzlies at the Michigan Intercollegiate with a 8K time of 27:17.99, finishing in 22nd place.

Cross Country Runners of the Week:
Sept. 3 Michael Cox (Oakland); Louisa Coppola (Detroit)
Sept. 9 Eric Rupe (Youngstown State); Louisa Coppola (Detroit)
Sept. 16 Weston Brusky (Milwaukee); Samantha Hamilton (Youngstown State)
Sept. 23 Martin Nelkie (Detroit); Jessica Richardson (Valparaiso)
Sept. 30 Photis Karkalis (UIC); Tess Ehrhardt (UIC)
Oct. 7 Dan Shafer (Wright State); Tess Ehrhardt (UIC)
Oct. 14 Eric Rupe (Youngstown State); Tess Ehrhardt (UIC)