Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athletes Of The Week

New Mexico's Ortega and Air Force's Pardue garner weekly honors.

Ben Ortega has been selected the MWC men's cross country athlete of the week.
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Sept. 3, 2002

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - University of New Mexico junior Ben Ortega and Air Force Academy junior Brandess Pardue have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men's and women's cross country athletes of the week, respectively.

Ortega recorded his first collegiate victory on August 30 at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational, finishing the 6,758-meter course in 21:32.14. The Taos, N.M. native led the Lobos to a convincing victory at the invite, as the Lobos finished 36 points ahead of second place UTEP.

Pardue who hails from Aurora, Colo., finished first out of 27 runners at the Air Force Open on Aug. 30. She ran the three-mile course in 19:12.1, her fastest time ever, to pace the Falcon runners to a clean sweep of the first race of the season.