Elias Hajjar

Northern Kentucky University’s Elaine Koenig, a sophomore cross country runner from Florence, is the Northerner female Athlete of the Week. Koenig broke the 6K school record on Nov. 3 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a time of 23:35.

Tabatha Smith held the previous record, with a time of 23:27.4, in 1999.

“I’m excited to be named Athlete of the Week because it gives the whole cross country program recognition,” said Koenig.

“Cross country isn’t exactly the sport everyone thinks about, so we are sometimes overlooked. It’s just nice to be recognized for my hard work this season and summer.”

Koenig finished in 32nd place, leading the lady Norse to a 12th-place finish, highest in school history.

“A lot of us had good races on the same day.That’s what you need to do well at a cross country race,” said Koenig. “Our hard work all season finally paid off, and luckily it was on the same day.”

Koenig also had a great showing at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, finishing the 6K run in 18th place with a time of 24:07.20.