Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Laura Rolf (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran Northwest) has been named the Mid-Continent Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week for the second time this season after registering a third-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional last weekend to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Rolf covered the six-kilometer course in 21:00.79, less than 10 seconds behind Michigan's Nicole Edwards and less than a half-second back of Michigan State's Alissa McKaig. With her third-place finish, Rolf earned All-Region honors for the second consecutive year, joining former Valpo great Collette Liss with two regional honors. Rolf also led Valpo to its best regional finish ever, as the Crusaders came in ninth place out of the 30 competing teams.

Rolf will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. on November 20 to run with the nation's best at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The women's race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Central time.