NEW ORLEANS – Johns Hopkins graduate student Alex Ross has been named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Athlete-of-the-Week for NCAA Division III Women's Cross Country it was announced today.  Ross helped the Blue Jays claim the team title at the season-opening Baltimore Metro Invitational on Thursday, September 1.
 
The USTFCCCA combined all races held in the first two weeks of the season into its selection this week to allow all teams an opportunity to compete at least once before making its initial selections of the 2022 season.  Ross is the first Johns Hopkins women's cross country runner to earn the award since Felicia Koerner in 2016.  Surprisingly, Ross and Koerner are two of just four Blue Jays to earn the award as they are joined on the select list by Sophia Meehan (2015, 2014) and Hannah Oneda (2013).
 
In leading Johns Hopkins to the team title at the Baltimore Metro, Ross placed first individually as she covered the 5K course in 18:01.1 to place first and edge Maryland's Katie Altieri for top honors. Ross's first-place showing helped Hopkins defeat the Division I Terrapins by eight points for the team crown.  Ross, an All-American in 2021, counted four, top-five finishes to her credit last season, including a pair of runner-up showings, but her season-opening victory at the Baltimore Metro marks the first time in her career that she has placed first.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Friday, September 16 when the Blue Jays travel to Michigan to compete in the Michigan State Spartan Invitational.  The race is taking place on the same course that the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will take place on in mid-November.