WALESKA, Ga.— The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) announced its Men's and Women's Cross Country Runners of the Week on Monday, and according to the league office's release, a pair of Montreat College student-athletes swept the latest honors. Ronald Way secured his first AAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week recognition as a Cavalier, while Heather Murphy captured her second career AAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week nod.
 
A transfer from San Diego Mesa College, Way wasted no time stealing the spotlight in his first 8k with the program. Running an average mile time of 5:00.9, Way concluded the Queen City Invite as the top NAIA finisher. His 24:55.80 effort proved good enough for 16^th individually in a 239-competitor field, and he aided Montreat in placing seventh out of 21 teams. Of the 15 men to best Way last Friday, 13 hailed from NCAA Division I programs, one ran for an NCAA DII institution and the other raced unattached.
 
Murphy also delivered a superb performance Friday evening in Charlotte, N.C. The sophomore ended as the Queen City Invite's top NAIA competitor as well, utilizing an average mile time of 5:33.4 throughout her 5k. That steady excellence resulted in a final mark of 17:15.79, shaving nearly three seconds off her previous school record. Murphy rode her program-best mark to a sixth-place finish out of 228 runners, and the Cavs wrapped up the meet in ninth out of 20 squads. Only five DI competitors—three from Wake Forest University and two from UNC Charlotte—ran faster than Murphy at the Queen City Invite.
 
To see the official AAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week release, click here. For the official AAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week announcement, click here.
 
Way, Murphy and the Montreat College men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Oct. 4 at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Ky.