VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State men's cross country junior Brishen House and senior women's cross country runner Angie Cipriani were named Steel's Jewelry Blazer Athletes of the Week.
 
House, a Valdosta, Ga., native, showed out at the Julius Johnson Memorial Invitational in Macon, Ga., last Saturday as he won the 8K race with a time of 26:42.2.  It marked the first time a Valdosta State men's cross country runner won a race since 2014. Valdosta State was the only Division II program competing while the rest of the schools were Division I programs.
 
His first-place finish, along with two other Blazer runners who finished second and third, helped the men's cross country team win team title, a feat the program hasn't conquered since 2014. The race also marked the first time Valdosta State had runners place first, second, and third in a race since the 1970s.
 
Cipriani, a Thomasville, Ga., native, also had a strong race last Saturday. She placed second overall with a time of 18:55.78, which marked her best finish in her collegiate career. Just like the men's race, the Valdosta State women's cross country team was the only Division II institution competing.
 
Her second-place finish helped the Blazer women's team find the podium to finish third overall. Cipriani aims to have a standout year after coming off a 16^th place finish at the 6K NCAA South Regional with a new personal best in 2019.
 
Both the men's and women's teams return action Oct. 2, at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., with the men's race set for 8:30 a.m., and the women's race at 9:05 a.m.