ROCK HILL, S.C. --- After earning his third top-five finish of the season, Tusculum College men's cross country senior David Cooper has been named the South Atlantic Conference AstroTurf Runner of the Week for the week ending October 27.

Cooper, a native of Greeneville, Tennessee, finished in fourth with a time of 27:00.21 at last Saturday's Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. His time was the fastest of all attached runners and helped Tusculum take second place overall. It was his third-fastest time of the season.

It's the fourth time in Cooper's career that he has been honored as SAC Runner of the Week and his second nod this season. He is a three-time All-Southeast Region honoree, and a two-time All-SAC standout. In his four-year career at TC, Cooper has been the Pioneers' top finisher in every event he competed except one. He has won three meets and has recorded nine top-five finishes.

Cooper has also excelled in the classroom as he is a two-time Capital One Academic All-American, and is the reigning SAC Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Chuckey-Doak High School alum has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Biology.

Cooper and the rest of the Pioneer harriers will be back in action next Saturday morning (Nov. 8) at the South Atlantic Conference Championship in Salisbury, North Carolina.