GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Green Bay women's cross country runner Lauren Mauel (Green Bay, Wis.) has been named the Horizon League Runner of the Week, announced by the league office Monday. According to 25-year head coach Mike Kline, this is the first Runner of the Week honor received by a Green Bay runner since the 1990s.

Mauel finished third in the field of 89 runners in last weekend's Midwest Open held at UW-Parkside. Mauel completed the hilly 5k course with a time of 18:51, the highest finish among all Division I runners including Horizon League rival UW-Milwaukee.

"She's been working very hard and is going to be a great addition to our team both athletically and academically," said Kline. "She has a great work ethic, is unselfish and possesses a lot of qualities any coach would want in a student-athlete."

The junior transfer from Wisconsin also turned in a third place finish in the UIC Opener Sept. 3. Mauel completed the two mile course in a time of 11:35, running an average mile pace of 5:48.

"The season is young and she has performed very well for us at this point," Kline said. "It's only been a couple of weeks of competition but I'm very confident in her and the team but at the same point I don't want to be overly optimistic."

Both men's and women's cross country teams will be competing in their final in-state meet Saturday, Sept. 17 as both will be competing in the Falcon Invite held at Concordia University in Mequon. The women's 6K race will begin at 11 a.m. followed by the men's race at 12 p.m.

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