INDIANAPOLIS – A stellar combined team performance from Walsh in both men’s and women’s races propelled the Cavaliers to Great Midwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Athletes of the Week honors on Tuesday.
 
The Walsh men remained idle in the new USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings at No. 5 while Cedarville and Malone also remained locked at No. 6 and No. 9 from the previous week.
 
There was also no movement in the women’s Midwest Region rankings from Great Midwest schools as Hillsdale sits high at No. 2 while Walsh is No. 4 and Malone is at No. 7.
 
The Walsh men remain slotted at No. 22 in the USTFCCCA National Poll at No. 22. Hillsdale’s women are now a top 10 program, moving up two spots to No. 9, and Walsh is close behind at No. 13.
 
The Great Midwest has its third nationally ranked women’s program with Malone sitting comfortably at No. 22.
 
Men’s Athlete of the Week
Drew Roberts
Walsh
Freshman
Ashland, OH (Mapleton HS)
 
Roberts breezed to the top team finish in the 5 mile course at the National Catholic Invitational on Friday hosted by Notre Dame.
 
The Cavaliers have really excelled at the Division I heavy event and the 2019 edition was no exception. Walsh, nationally and regionally ranked, recorded a runner-up finish as a program only to the host Fighting Irish.
 
Walsh defeated schools like Dayton, Canisius and Creighton, also in the field. The Cavaliers averaged 26:19.00 among its top scorers in the race, a distance measuring over 8K.
 
Roberts was a top 10 finisher individually, clocking a 26:02.40 to finish ninth overall. As a freshman, it was a very impressive showing as he averaged 5:12 per mile.
 
A handful of his teammates contributed with top 20 finishes including Jacob Caniford (12th), Noah Murray (15th), Jay Lutton (17th) and Tyler Pace (20th).
 
Women’s Athlete of the Week
Bre Bakan
Walsh
Senior
Alliance, OH (Marlington HS)
 
Bakan was Walsh’s top finisher in the 5K distance for the 13th-ranked Cavaliers at the National Catholic Invitational hosted by Notre Dame.
 
The senior placed 11th overall in the Division I laden field as she finished with a time of 18:21.80.
 
As a team, Walsh was the top non-Division I school, coming in fourth overall only behind host ND, Dayton and Holy Cross. Similar to the Cavs men, Walsh toppled Creighton and Canisius in the total team scoring.
 
Bakan paced the Cavaliers behind some impressive bookend finishes by Andra Lehotay, another senior and Alexa Leppelmeier, just a junior who placed 13th and 14th in the field, respectively.