BENNINGTON, Vt. — The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced its first weekly award winners of the 2015 fall seasons on Monday with Southern Vermont College junior Justin Ferguson (Broadalbin, N.Y.) taking claim to the Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week honor.

Ferguson won the 2015 Mountaineer Invitational on Saturday, crossing the finish line first in the men's 5000 meter race on his home, mountain-side course. The junior came through with a time of 16:39, the best-ever mark in the history of SVC's home event, with a split time of 5:22 per mile.

This is the first Runner of the Week award for the Mountaineer after he was named the NECC Rookie of the Week four times last season. Ferguson and the Southern Vermont team now set their sights on this Saturday's Castleton University Invitational.