ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Drake University senior Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday, Sept. 6. The league also named Fischer the Eagle Bank MVC Men's Student-Athlete of the Week.
 
Fischer opened the season by finishing second in the Hawkeye Invitational 6k on Friday, Sept. 2, with a time of 17:59.5, just two seconds off the winning pace. The performance opened his season after finishing as the runner up at the 2015 MVC Cross Country Championship and later earning all-region honors at the NCAA Midwest Regional. During the track season, he advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the 10,000 meters and narrowly missed earning All-America honors. Academically, he holds a 3.81 cumulative grade-point average as an English and Public Relations major.
 
Fischer is the second Bulldog to earn the Eagle Bank MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honor this season. Last week, men's soccer's James Wypych garnered the award.
 
In addition to his second-place finish at last year's MVC Championship, Fischer was named to the MVC Cross Country Scholar-Athlete Team and was an All-Academic selection by the United State Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
The men's cross country team returns to action this Friday, Sept. 9, at the Oz Memorial hosted by the University of Minnesota. The meet is named in honor of former Drake head coach Gary Osborne.

2016-17 Drake Eagle Bank MVC Scholar-Athletes of the Week
Sept. 6 - Reed Fischer, men's cross country
Aug. 30 - James Wypych, men's soccer