Detroit's Coppola, Youngstown State's Rupe Earn Cross Country Runner of the Week Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Detroit senior Louisa Coppola (Warren, Mich.) and Youngstown State junior Eric Rupe (Cortland, Ohio) have been named Horizon League Runners of the Week for the week of Sept. 2-Sept. 9.

Coppola won her second collegiate race in as many starts with a 5K time of 18:38 at the 27th Annual Running Fit-Detroit Titan Invite. Coppola became the first female Titan to win the Invite since 1997, with her strong outing besting a field of 92 runners. This is the second consecutive week Coppola has been named the Horizon League Cross Country Runner of the Week.

After redshirting in 2012, Rupe has posted two top 10 finishes to start the season, including a victory at the Tommy Evans Invitational on Thursday. With his victory, Rupe became the first Penguin’s male runner to win the event. This is the first career Horizon League Cross Country Runner of the Week honor for Rupe.

Youngstown State travels to Bowling Green on Saturday for the Mel Brodt Invitational while Detroit does not compete.

Top Runners for the Week:
Monica Ciarniello-Youngstown State (Sr., Lowellville, Ohio) - Ciarniello finished seventh out of 45 runners at the Tommy Evans Invitational with a 5K time of 18:50.
Rachel Janson, Wright State (Sr., Dayton, Ohio) - Her 5K time of 19:05 was good for 23rd place out of 148 runners.
Ashlyn Woods, Cleveland State (Fr., Mentor, Ohio) - The freshman paced the Vikings for the second straight week. Woods placed 23rd out of 92 participants with a time of 20:01 at the Detroit Titan Invitational.
Dan Shafer, Wright State (Sr., Painesville, Ohio) - Led the Raiders at the Queen City 5K with a time of 15:15 to place ninth out of 154 runners. In doing so, Shafer set a new Raider 5K record.
Jessica Richardson-Valparaiso (Jr, Columbus, Ind.) - Finished with a 5K time of 18:39.7 at the Crusader Open to place seventh out of 33 runners.
Martin Nelkie-Detroit (Sr., West Branch, Mich.) - After placing second at last week’s Golden Grizzly Classic, Nelkie won his first collegiate race at the 27th Annual Running Fit-Detroit Titan Invite. With his victory, Nelkie led the Titans to its first-ever title in school history.
Dan Walters-Valparaiso (Fr., Crown Point, Ind.) - Led the Crusaders at the Crusader Open with a 6K time of 20:29.8, good for 13th place.

Cross Country Runners of the Week:
Sept. 3: Michael Cox (Oakland); Louisa Coppola (Detroit)
Sept. 9 Eric Rupe (Youngstown State); Louisa Coppola (Detroit)