TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State sophomore Emma Gresham was named the MVC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week Monday following a career-best showing at the John McNichols Invitational.
 
Gresham's weekly honor comes on the heels of one of the best 6k times in program history, which helped propel the Trees to a second-place finish at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
 
Gresham clocked a time of 21:03.7, breaking her previous best in the event by nearly a minute to place second overall out of 378 runners. Her time also ranks within the top five in program history, and was the second-fastest ever run by a Sycamore at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
 
Saturday's career-best time adds on to a stellar start to 2024 for Gresham, who broke the program record in the 4k in the season-opening Sam Bell Invitational (14:14.8). Gresham has placed in the top-three in each of Indiana State's first two meets, while the Sycamores cracked the top 15 in the Great Lakes Region rankings for the first time since 2018 and are currently ranked No. 14 in the region.
 
Gresham's weekly honor is the first of her career and the first for Indiana State cross country since Akis Medrano earned a pair of Athlete of the Week honors during the 2018 season. Indiana State's last Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor came during the 2014 season when Nicole Lucas won the honors for the opening week of the season.
 
Indiana State's stays in the Hoosier State for its next weekend of competition, with the Sycamores set to take part in the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend and the Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Both meets are slated to run October 4.
 
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