RICHMOND, Va.- VCU Freshman Jonathan Hess has had a distinguished start to his collegiate career. For the second time in three weeks, Hess was announced as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. 

At the CNU XC Invitational on Friday, Hess finished 2nd of 82 qualified runners with an 8k time of 25:40.5. The finish gave him an average mile time of 5:09 over nearly five miles as he finished narrowly behind Virginia Union's Rodgers Korir. The meet was also his first career 8k and the second race in which he paced the Rams to the finish line. 

After winning his first A-10 Rookie of the Week award on Sep. 2, Hess became the first Ram to win a weekly award for men's cross country since Kendall Phillips in 2021. After his strong start, Hess seeks to become the first A-10 Rookie of the Year winner for Men's Cross Country since Daniel Ndungu won CAA Rookie of the Year in 2000. 

The 2nd-place finish was also the best individual finish for VCU at a CNU-hosted meet since 2014, when Mohamed Adam won the CNU Invitational at 25:35.1. He also holds the best individual finish for any Ram since 2017, when Bryce Catlett finished 2nd in the VUU Panther Classic. 

Hess and the Rams race again on Saturday, Sep. 20, at the Lancer Pink Invitational hosted by Longwood. The men race at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women at 10:30 a.m.