Northeast Conference Cross Country Weekly Release (9/27/11)

Moon Township, Pa. - Freshman Michelle Schiewe (Swidnica, Poland / Czestochowska Second Liceurn) of the Robert Morris University women's cross country team earned the first weekly honor of her career Tuesday as she was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week.

Schiewe was bestowed the honor after leading a field of 47 runners at the Ohio Cross Country Invitational (9/24), posting a time of 22:37.35 in the six-kilometer course to earn the individual championship.

Thanks to her performance, Schiewe helped RMU finish second as a team at the Ohio Invite with 41 points.

Schiewe's time of 22:37.35 is the third best mark in a six-kilometer course in school history, trailing only former Colonials Merel Van Steenbergen (2010-11) and Erika Suhy (2000-04).

Van Steenbergen owns the school record of 22:17.00, which she set last season at the Penn State National Invitational (10/16/10), while Suhy posted a time of 22:24.06 at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Championships in State College, Pa., Nov. 11, 2000.

Robert Morris has a week off to prepare for its next meet, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 8, with the Slippery Rock Invitational in Slippery Rock, Pa.