Joliet, Ill. -Guiding Saint Xavier University to a first-place team finish at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Opener this past Saturday, junior Rachael Dean (Lindenhurst, Ill./Judson University/Lakes) was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week when the league office released the honor Tuesday. Dean paced the Cougars Saturday with a second-place individual finish en route to the first weekly conference recognition of her collegiate career.

Dean, who was second overall out of 39 runners, ran just over a five-minute mile for a time of 11:15 in the two-mile race. She was just 0.08 second off from winning the race going neck-to-neck with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Elise Sigg down the final stretch. SXU was the only NAIA program in the field as they defeated four other NCAA Division I programs (Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UIC and Chicago State University).

Saint Xavier continues its season this weekend with the Midwest Classic hosted by Olivet Nazarene University. The women's race kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 10, at the Aspen Ridge Golf Course in Bourbonnais, Ill.