INDIANAPOLIS – Bellarmine University senior Robert Sandlin, Jr. and junior Emily Frith have been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Runners of the Week for men's and women's cross country, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday. It is the third time on record that the Knights have swept the weekly distance awards as a male and female Bellarmine runner were recognized on both Sept. 20 and Oct. 11 of the 2011 season.
Sandlin finished second overall Friday at the National Catholic Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. His 5-mile time of 24 minutes, 58.8 seconds was tops among all non-NCAA Division I runners by 42 seconds and was just three seconds behind overall winner Sam Penzenstadler of Loyola (Ill.). The Frankfort, Ky., native, who outran Notre Dame's top-five specialists in the final 400 meters, earns the first cross country weekly honor of his career and is the first Bellarmine runner to earn the award since Jordan Paravil on Oct. 11, 2011.
Frith placed sixth overall at the National Catholic Invitational, covering the 5,000-meter course in a personal-best time of 17:42. She was the top non-Division I runner in the race by 35 seconds, and missed a fifth-place result by a mere 0.4 seconds. The Crab Orchard, Ky., native, who was making her first official appearance of the season for the Knights, claims the second weekly honor of her cross country career. She was also recognized by the league on Oct. 11, 2011.
The Bellarmine sweep of weekly honors is the first for a GLVC program since the University of Southern Indiana's Cody Stone and Erika Wilson were selected by the league coaches on Oct. 16, 2012 – the final award given out last year.