ROSEMONT, Ill. -Illinois women's cross country runner Colette Falsey has been named Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Week after taking the individual title at the Illini Open and leading the Orange and Blue to the team win. She shares the award with Jaimie Phelan of Michigan. This is the first time Falsey has received the honor in her career.

Falsey, a Schaumburg, Ill. native, cruised to her second-career win in Friday's five-kilometer race in a new personal-best time of 17:44.47. Her finishing time eclipsed that of runner-up Colleen Weatherford of Butler by 12.8 seconds, and was under 10 seconds off Katie Porada's course record.

This is the first time this season that an Illini runner has been honored by the Big Ten. The last Illinois runner to garner the award was Porada, who was recognized last year after winning the Illini Open.

Falsey and the Illini will be competing at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, Nov. 2 in Iowa City, Iowa. The women's race is slated to begin at 10:45 a.m. CT at Ashton Cross Country Course.