Natalie Bitetti Earns Eighth Career SCIAC Athlete of the Week honor

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior Natalie Bitetti earned the SCIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week for events through Sunday, Oct. 8, the conference office announced today.

Bitetti earned the honor for the third time this season and the eighth in her career. A year ago, she won it after all four regular season races she ran in, while she also picked it up once as a sophomore in 2021. 

This week's honor came on the heels of a second-place finish out of over 350 runners at the Division III Pre-Nationals in Newville, Pennsylvania. Bitetti's performance led CMS to the team title, a dominant win as the Athenas finished with 51 points, with MIT a distant second with 99. 

CMS will be back in action on Oct. 28 for the SCIAC Championships, where Bitetti will try to win the individual title for the second year in a row. Last season, she won both the SCIAC and the NCAA West Regional titles, and earned All-America honors with a top-40 finish at nationals for the second straight season.