Samantha Johnson Earns Yet Another Honor After Claiming League Crown

Big Rapids, Mich. -  Ferris State University's Samantha Johnson (Troy) was chosen today as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week.

This week marks the second consecutive time to date this year in which she's claimed the league's weekly award honor.

The honor comes on the heels of Johnson winning several other awards earlier this week following her first-place individual finish at the 2013 GLIAC Championships held last Saturday (Oct. 26) in Houghton. 

After winning the league race, Johnson was chosen as the 2013 GLIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year at the league meet.  In addition, she was previously named the National Athlete of the Week by the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for her efforts, becomeing the first Bulldog runner to claim National Athlete of the Week recognition in the history of the award.

Johnson overcame both cold and windy weather in Michigan's Upper Peninsula along with topping runners from defending national champion and nationally top-ranked Grand Valley State to take the GLIAC individual title in 21:57.13 over the 6K course at Michigan Tech.

Her victory came at the expense of runner-up 2012 GLIAC Champion Allyson Winchester of GVSU, who finished 12 seconds back. It was Winchester who held a one-second lead over Johnson after two-thirds of the race, but Johnson was able to pull away from the defending champ over the final mile. 

The 2013 GLIAC Championships were hosted by Michigan Tech at the Nordic Training Center for the first time in 13 years.

Besides claiming GLIAC Athlete of the Year honors after the title-winning performance, Johnson also was an All-GLIAC First Team honoree. 
 
Ferris State will next take part in the 2013 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9, in Kenosha, Wis.