Women’s Runner of the Week
Grace Steinmetz, Bellevue (Neb.)
Sophomore I Council Bluffs, Iowa
Steinmetz captured the individual title at the Grand View (Iowa) Viking Invite on Sept. 19 in Des Moines, Iowa.
She completed the 6-kilometer course in 22 minutes, 30.88 seconds, finishing first in a field of 122 runners. Steinmetz dominated the race, crossing the finish line approximately 35 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Steinmetz’s performance was especially impressive given the challenging course conditions, which featured wet grass, mud and standing water following a week of rain in the Des Moines area. Despite those conditions, she broke the previous course record by 17 seconds.
This is Steinmetz’s fifth career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player-of-the-Week honor.