Merkley and Roodell Earn Inaugural MWC Cross Country Honors

Both runners perform well at last week's Colorado State Invitational.

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Sept. 15, 1999

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Utah senior Chris Merkley and Colorado State University junior Elizabeth Roodell have been selected as the first-ever Mountain West Conference men’s and women’s cross country athletes of the week, respectively.

Competing at the Colorado State Ram Invitational, Sept. 11, Merkley finished third in the 8K race with a time of 24:33. The American Fork, Utah, native was the first Division I runner to cross the finish line. The Utes finished in fourth place in the 10-team event.

Roodell has led the Ram contingent in each of CSU’s first two meets. In the season opener against Eastern Illinois, the Eureka, Mont., native eclipsed the field with a time of 18:05. In the Rams’ own Colorado State Invitational on Sept. 11, Roodell turned in a second-place finish in the 10-team event with a time of 17:31.43 as the team took home a third-place finish.

Utah will next compete at the Sun Dodger Invitational in Seattle, Wash., on Sept. 25, while Colorado State will take part in the Minnesota Invitational in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 25.