Sept. 14, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou cross country sophomore Kaitie Vanatta (Littleton, Colo.) was named Big 12 Runner of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday (Sept. 14). Vanatta's Runner of the Week award comes on the heels of her first-place nod at the Mizzou Cross Country Challenge last weekend. The weekly honor is the second of Vanatta's career as she earned the same honor after winning the 2009 Mizzou Cross Country Challenge last season.

Vanatta clocked in at 17:37.20 on the 5K course, a personal-best on her home course, while capturing her second straight Missouri Cross Country Challenge title. She led the Tigers, who placed five runners in the top eight, to a team victory over teams from Kansas and UMKC. She bested the entire field by nearly 24 seconds and was the only runner to finish the 5K course in less than 18 minutes.

After earning her second Big 12 Weekly Cross Country Award, Vanatta becomes the first Tiger to win the award twice in her career since Amanda Bales, who took home Runner of the Week honors four times in her career.

For all the latest on Mizzou cross country, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.