ST. LOUIS – On the strength of a fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Mid-America Opener, University of Evansville runner Cody Stein was named MVC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Following a strong junior campaign, Stein led the way for the University of Evansville in the 6K Mid-America Opener on Saturday. Stein finished the race in a time of 18:33.20 to wrap up the event in fourth place overall. His time bested his 6K PR by an impressive 19 seconds over his time from two years ago.
 
The last UE runner to earn MVC Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors was Josh Witters, who took home the honor on September 15, 2010.
 
Stein and the Purple Aces will take to the course once again this weekend, traveling to Charleston, Ill. for the EIU Panther Open, which is slated to begin at 4:45 p.m. on Friday.