Koen Named NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Athlete of the Week

ROCHESTER, N.Y. –  RIT Men's Cross Country junior Derick Koen was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country National Athlete of the Week, Monday.

Koen finished first out of 121 runners to lead RIT to second place out of nine teams at the St. John Fisher Terry Rodenbeck Invitational on August 30th. The junior runner covered the six-kilometer course in a time of 19:34.2 to best the field by two seconds.

Koen and the Tigers are back in action Saturday, Sep. 21 at the University of Rochester's Yellowjacket Invitational at Genesee Valley Park.

This is the fourth time in program history that a male athlete from RIT has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Koen joins two-time honoree Otto Kingstedt (2017 and 2018) as well as Aleksi Bingham (2019) in that regard.

National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 14 collegiate cross country athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and the NJCAA).