This past week the NAIA recognized one of IIT's own as its National Athlete of the Week. Senior Stephanie Lucas (BME) was awarded female Cross Country Runner of the week. Lucas was selected based on her performances from Sept. 20 - 26 and was chosen out of a pool of selected conference/independent/unaffiliated runners of the week.

During that weekLucas repeated her Forester Invitational performance of a year ago by capturing the 5K individual title in 18:26, a new Illinois Tech record and personal best time, (Sept. 25). The senior from Midland, Mich. led the field of 115 competitors from the sounding of the gun and never relinquished her position at the front of the pack. The Scarlet Hawks placed second in the 10-team race.

This most recent accolade adorns an already impressive collegiate career. Ms. Lucas is the current holder of three IIT cross country records. These include the fastest 4 kilometer, 5 kilometer and 6 kilometer distance races. She has also earned three CCAC All-Conference honors and made three individual trips to the NAIA National Championships. All indicators suggest she is poised to repeat both of those achievements again this fall.

At the National Championships she raced to the best finishing place of an IIT individual athlete, and posted the fastest individual time run by an IIT woman. In 2008 Stephanie won the Conference Championships and was recognized as the CCAC Runner of the Year.

As a member of TRAC, Illinois Tech's track and field club, Ms. Lucas also holds numerous school records. During her indoor seasons she set the records for the 800m, mile, and 3k runs. Competing on the outdoor track she paced the club to new records in the 800m, 1500m and 5 kilometer runs. During the 2008 & 2009 outdoor track seasons Ms. Lucas has run the NAIA's "A" standard for the 5,000 meter run. This means had IIT sponsored track and field as a varsity sport, Ms. Lucas would have been competing for IIT at the National Championships. Both years her times would have placed her within the top 20 female athletes in the country.

Stephanie will be graduating IIT this spring with her degree in Biomedical Engineering. She currently holds a 4.0 cumulative GPA and will be attending medical school next fall.