<> WACO, Texas - Baylor women's cross country runner Rachel Johnson earned her fifth Big 12 Runner of the Week honor of her career, the league's office announced on Tuesday. She is the first Big 12 women's athlete to receive the honor five times.

The Plano, Texas, native tallied her first conference honor of the season by placing second at the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday with a time of 20:41 on the 6K course. She finished just six seconds behind the winner, Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State.

The individual accomplishment helped the BU women take fifth as a team at the meet. The victory for Johnson comes in her first race of the season. She finished in the top five three times last season, including at the NCAA Regional Championships where she placed fifth.

Last year, Johnson won Big 12 Runner of the Week accolades after finishing first at the Bear Twilight Invitational. Two weeks later, she claimed another league weekly honor following a win at the Iowa Black and Gold Invite. She also won two honors during her sophomore campaign.

In the 18-year history of the Big 12, BU female runners have been honored 20 times. Johnson has won more Big 12 weekly honors than any other BU cross country runner. Brittany Brockman, who won four awards in 2004-05, is second on the all-time list. BU's men's runner Eric Anderson earned the league honor on Sept. 16.

Baylor runners will be back in action this Saturday Oct. 4 at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.

For the latest news on the Baylor cross country team follow its official Twitter account: @BaylorTrack.