Sept. 15, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - Boston University All-American Andrea Walkonen was named the America East Female Cross Country Performer of the Week on Tuesday by the league office. Walkonen garnered the first conference award of the season after taking home the title at BU's season opening meet in Vermont this past weekend.

Walkonen's first place finish at the America East Pre-Championship meet in Williston, Vt., sparked a Terrier team victory as BU placed three runners within the top 10 finishers. Walkonen traversed the 5,000-meter course in 17:50.68 which was an impressive 35 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.

In 2008, Walkonen took home two weekly conference Performer of the Week awards, the second coming after she captured the title at the New England Championships for the second year in a row. Walkonen went on to place second at the NCAA Regional Meet and earned her All-America status with a 21st-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Championships.

Walkonen and the Terrier women and men are back in action this Sunday as they host Marist, LaSalle, Brown and Northeastern at the BU Invitational at Franklin Park. The men's race is slated to begin at 11 a.m., while the women's race will commence at 11:45 a.m.