Sept. 30, 2002

Duquesne sophomore Ryan Bender (Indiana, PA / Indiana) was named the Atlantic 10 Men's Cross Country Co-Performer of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

Bender's first place finish led the Dukes to the championship of this past Friday's Duquesne Invitational which was held at Pittsburgh's Schenley Park. His time of 26:50 edged out two other Dukes as senior Dave Eldridge (Black Lick, PA / Blairsville) finished second with a time of 26:57 while freshman Zachary Dorman (Imperial, PA / West Allegheny) took third overall at 27:00.

This is Bender's second conference citation. He was named Rookie of the Week last October for his perfermance in Lehigh's Paul Short Invitational. The sophomore has paced the Dukes in the team's prior two competitions this season -- at the Duquesne Duals and the Malone College (OH) Invitational.

The Dukes return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 when they travel to Lewisburg, PA for Bucknell's Gulden Invitational.