Oct. 1, 2008

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine senior Laura Olvera has been named the Big West Conference Athlete of the Week in women's cross country following her outstanding performance at the Stanford Invitational last Saturday.

Olvera finished first in the field of 278 runners at Stanford, covering the 6,000-meter course in 20:42, eight seconds ahead of the runner-up. Her win helped UCI to a sixth-place finish in the 33-team field.

Olvera has won her first two races of the season as she also placed first in the Asics/UCI Invitational Sept. 6. These are the first two collegiate individual titles for Olvera, who has finished second or third in the last three Big West Conference Championship meets.

This marks the sixth weekly Big West honor in Olvera's career. She has earned all-conference honors each of the last three seasons and was the 2005 Big West Freshman of the Year in women's cross country.