FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

CCIW Press Release

Sept. 18, 2012 - For the second time in the 2012 season, North Central College's John Crain has been selected as the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week.

Crain received the distinction after helping lead the Cardinals to the team title at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships on Friday. He placed third out of 339 competitors, touring the 8,000-meter (five-mile) course in 24 minutes, 28 seconds, as North Central topped a 36-team field after defeating runner-up Loyola University Chicago on the sixth-man tiebreaker.

The Cardinals' victory was the third at the Intercollegiate Championships in the past four seasons.

Crain was also selected the CCIW's Runner of the Week on Sept. 5 after placing first at the season-opening Elmhurst College Early Bird Invitational. North Central athletes have now won three of the four Runner of the Week Awards that have been handed out thus far this season, as the Cardinals' Tim Hird earned the honor last week.

Currently ranked No. 1 in the most recent national Division III Top 35 Poll released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), North Central will send a squad to St. James Farm in Warrenville on Saturday to compete in the Wheaton College Gil Dodds Invitational. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.