ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Southern Vermont College took claim to its second-straight New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week honor on Monday as Bennington College senior Annika Kristiansen (Keene, N.H.) earned the award for the period ending October 1, 2017.

Kristiansen returned to her hometown on Saturday and led the Mountaineers in her first race of the season at the Keene State College Invitational. The Bennington senior came through at 20:29 to finish just 25 seconds shy of her SVC 5,000 meter record with a pace of 6:36 per mile. This is the third time in her career that Kristiansen has been named the NECC Runner of the Week.

Joining Kristiansen in collecting league accolades was freshman teammate Emily Ikonen (Hubbardston, Mass.) who was named the NECC Women's Cross Country Rookie of the Week for the second-straight time. SVC also won both of the weekly awards on the men's side as Southern Vermont sophomore Davanté Smith (Ellenville, N.Y.) was selected as the NECC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week while Bennington freshman C.G. Holden (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was chosen as the Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week.

Kristiansen and the Mountaineers are back at it on Saturday, October 14 when they head to Western New England University for the Golden Bear Invitational; that will serve as Southern Vermont's final meet before the NECC championships on October 28.

– #LetsGoSVC –