FSU'S JENNY IRWIN PICKS UP LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARD KUDOS

Senior Chosen As GLIAC Women's Cross Country Runner Of The Week

Irwin led Ferris State to a runner-up finish in the 6K division at the annual Michigan Intercollegiate Championships held last Friday (Oct. 7) in Rochester, Mich. She claimed her fifth consecutive individual meet championship in five tries this campaign by winning the race in a time of 21:40.9. Seventy-three runners competed in the 6K event.

The senior standout has also emerged victorious in the Central Michigan Drenth Memorial (Sept. 2), Northern Michigan Invitational (Sept. 10), FSU Bulldog Invitational (Sept. 23) and the Loyola Lakefront Invitational (Oct. 1) this campaign. This week marks the third time Irwin has earned the GLIAC Runner of the Week Award in her career and the second time this campaign as she also earned the distinction on Sept. 28.

Irwin previously received All-America honors with a fourth-place (4:30.60) finish in the 1,500 meters at the 2005 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 26-28) held at Abilene Christian University's Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas. In the process, she became the 11th track and field athlete in FSU women's history to earn outdoor All-America recognition and the school's first since 2002. The first-team 2004 All-GLIAC Cross Country pick also took part in the 2005 NCAA-II Indoor Championships (March 11-12) held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass., where she took 11th place in the mile run (4:58.38) and earned All-America kudos as part of the school's eighth-place distance medley relay team (11:56.52).

Irwin, who was honored as FSU's Most Valuable Women's Track Athlete last season, placed second overall in both the 1,500 meters (4:34.90) and the 3,000 meters (10:11.17) at the 2005 GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 5-6) in Allendale, Mich. A 2004-05 All-GLIAC Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field honoree, Irwin won the 3,000 meters (10:12.08) a year ago at the league's indoor championships (Feb. 25-26) in University Center, Mich. She holds or shares six school women's track and field records in the distance events.

Irwin was also chosen to compete in the 24th annual NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championships (Nov. 20) held last year in Evansville, Ind. She advanced individually to the national championships by virtue of her seventh place All-Great Lakes Region performance at the 2004 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Championships (Nov. 6) in Edwardsville, Ill. Irwin took 46th place (23:16.8) at the national cross country meet and was honored as the team's MVP. Her performance helped the Bulldogs to a number eight national ranking during the 2004 regular season.

Ferris State, which was ranked 18th in last week's (Oct. 3) NCAA Division II Cross Country Coaches Association National Rankings, will take part in the 2005 GLIAC Championships Saturday, Oct. 22, beginning at 11 a.m. (EDT) in Marquette, Mich. The meet will be hosted by Northern Michigan.