Cross country star...

Sophomore Christie Turak of the Mercyhurst College women’s cross country team has been named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week in the sport of cross country, as announced this afternoon by PSAC league officials.

Turak earns the honor after finishing in second place with a time of 18:30 at the 37th Annual California (Pa.) Cross Country Invitational this past weekend. Her time, a new personal best, was just eight seconds shy of the 18:22 ran by Kristen Carter of Grove City who took first place.

The Erie, Pa. native joins teammate Cherie Jackson as the only two Mercyhurst cross country runners to ever earn a weekly conference honor. Jackson was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Runner of the Week a season ago when she won the Allegheny Invitational with a time of 22:30.31.

Mercyhurst returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 13 when the Lakers take on the Penn State-Behrend Invitational.