NATCHITOCHES—Senior Northwestern State cross country runner Brandon Lewis-Graham was voted Southland Conference Male Cross Country Athlete of the Week Tuesday after his strong performance at the Louisiana Tech Mook Duals.
 
The Ruston native placed first in his hometown over the weekend in the four-mile run amongst the 46-runner field with a time of 20:28.5.
 
"It feels great to win athlete of the week. I have been working extremely hard alongside my teammates. All the work put in behind the scenes paid off this past weekend at the school I transferred in from," said Lewis-Graham.
 
The Demons placed second at the Louisiana Tech Mook Duals with a total team score of 68. The hosting Bulldogs won the event with 29 points.
 
"We have a tremendous amount of confidence on the men's side moving forward and will continue to put in the work to climb up the conference standings. The conference championships are coming up very quickly, so every day counts," said Lewis-Graham.
 
Head coach Chris Sauers was in high spirits when he learned of his runner's honor.
 
"It's really exciting for Brandon to receive this award. He has transformed himself as a runner over the summer," said Sauer. "To stand out as much as he has this week and to win on a course he's been racing on since high school, is something special."
 
This is the first time NSU has received the Southland male cross country athlete of the week award since Albert Gladney claimed the prize in October of 2013.
 
Isabella Hudson received an honorable mention from the conference after finishing third in the 4,000 kilometer run.               
 
Voting is done by cross country sports information contacts at the league's 13 institutions.
 
NSU competes again on Sept. 29 at McNeese, in the MSU Cowboy Stampede in Lake Charles.