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

CCIW Press Release

Oct. 18, 2016 - North Central College men's cross country runner Zach Plank completed a season-long sweep of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Athlete of the Week awards this season, receiving the distinction for the fourth time this week. The most recent announcement was made by the CCIW on Tuesday. 

Plank earned the award for the fourth time in as many races with his performance at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Kollege Town Sports Invitational on Saturday. He finished first in a field of more than 500 competitors, completing the 8,000-meter (five-mile) course in 24 minutes, 46.2 seconds, posting his third first-place showing of the campaign and leading the Cardinals to a comfortable victory in the team competition. North Central placed five runners in the top 11 finishers and scored just 24 points to lead a 37-team field which included eight other nationally-ranked teams.

The Cardinals have now won five of the seven CCIW Athlete of the Week Awards that have been bestowed this season, winning in five of the six weeks they have competed. Dhruvil Patel received the award on Sept. 20 following a fourth-place finish at the Wheaton College Gil Dodds Invitational.

This year's CCIW Championships will be contested Saturday, Oct. 29 at Maxwell Park in Normal. The Cardinals will be seeking to win the CCIW team title for the 43rd consecutive year.