AU Cross Country's Ryan, Olsen, Rinehardt Garner PL Awards

Sept. 3, 2008

WASHINGTON - American University cross country's Nick Ryan, Josh Olsen and Octavia Rinehardt have been honored by the Patriot League for their performances last week at the Mount St. Mary's 5k Duals. Ryan was named the PL Male Runner of the Week while Olsen and Rinehardt each garnered PL Rookie of the Week honors, conference officials announced Wednesday.

Ryan placed second in the 62 person field in a time of 16:12.45, helping the Eagles to a 4-1 finish. Ryan finished less than one second behind the meet's winner. Olsen, competing in his first collegiate race, finished in 12th place at 16:29.24. The AU men defeated George Washington, 15-50, Mount St. Mary's, 18-45, Temple, 19-44, and Maryland, 28-31 in the dual meet scoring. The team's only loss came to UMBC, 31-25.

Rinehardt was the Eagles top-finisher on the women's side. The freshman, also making her collegiate debut, placed second in a field of 66 runners in a time of 18:57.22 to lead AU to a 4-2 mark. The women's team defeated George Washington, 24-31, Mount St. Mary's, 26-30, Temple, 28-29, and UMBC, 28-29, while falling to Navy, 44-19, and Maryland, 32-25.

The AU men's and women's cross country teams will be in action again next weekend as they travel to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13.