Tina Muir Named GLIAC Runner Of The Week

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Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University junior runner Tina Muir (St. Albans, U.K.) has been chosen as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week after her recent performance in her first race of the season.

Muir made her season debut by winning the women's 5K collegiate run as FSU hosted the 34th straight running of the Ray Helsing Bulldog Invitational last Friday (Sept. 18) at Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich. She was clocked in 18:04.74 while finishing first among a field of 32 competitors in the non-scoring collegiate competition.

Her performance helped the Bulldog women's team capture eight of the top nine individual places in the event. She finished nearly 45 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in freshman teammate Anna Ruud (Leslie).

The Bulldog women, who were ranked 18th in the 2009 United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Preseason Division II National Rankings, tallied 10 of the top 12 finishers and 11 of the top 14 overall in the field. The women's collegiate division also included runners from Davenport, Kirtland Community College and Schoolcraft in addition to unattached performers.

Muir placed 12th overall at last year's nationals to become only the second All-American in Bulldog women's cross country history and FSU's highest finisher ever at the national championships. Her performance helped head coach Steve Picucci's squad wrap up one of its most successful seasons ever with a 17th-place performance a year ago at the 2008 NCAA-II National Championships (11/22/08) held at Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, Pa.

This week represents the second time in her career Muir has claimed the GLIAC weekly honor after she also received the same recognition last campaign following an eighth-place finish in the 36th annual Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational (9/27/08) at Montrose Beach in Chicago, Ill.

The Bulldog men's and women's cross country teams are next tentatively slated to take part in the Wisconsin-Parkside Lucian Rosa Open on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Kenosha, Wis.