NEW ORLEANS, LA – Following another spectacular weekend on the course, freshman cross country runner Cherise Carreira (East London, South Africa) was awarded USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Athlete of the Week honors, as announced by the committee on Monday afternoon.
 
Carreira participated in the five kilometers trek at the USC Upstate Invitational and stormed to a third-place finish with a time of 18:04.8 out of 134 runners. Carreira finished behind two NCAA Division I Furman athletes which helped the Royals to place sixth out of 17 participating programs. It was the third top-3 finish of her young career as the freshman placed third at the Queen City Invite and second in the blue race at the Royals Challenge last weekend.

This is the third time in program history that a female athlete has been named National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. The only other Royal to do so was Hannah Wolkenhauer, who was a two-time recipient on September 18, 2017 and September 16, 2019.
 
The Royals will return to the course this weekend when they host the South Atlantic Conference Championships at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte. Be sure to follow the Royals on Instagram and Twitter at queens_cross to stay up to date on all news and updates.