Rebecca Rodriguez Class: Junior Hometown: Miami, Fla. High School: Our Lady of Lourdes Academy Major: English

IU's top distance runner who represented the team well during the last cross country season…should be the program's strongest distance runner both indoors and outdoors running the 1,500 meters and up…earned all-conference recognition last fall in cross country with an eighth place finish…ran a personal-best 5k time of 18:10, good for eighth place, at the prestigious Walt Disney World Classic…that time was the sixth fastest in the history of the Golden Panthers cross country program…FIU's lone female competitor at the NCAA South Regional, finishing in 48th place with a 6k time of 23:00…top finisher at the FIU Invitational (9/29) and was second at the Greentree Invitational (10/12)…just missed outdoor all-conference recognition last outdoor season with a fourth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run…her season best time of 38:07.46 in that event was the second-fastest regular-season time last year…recorded four top-10 finishes in cross country as a sophomore…as a freshman, finished eighthat the conference meet in the indoor 5,000m…two-time high school all-county in cross country and in track's two mile run…member of Lourdes' 1998 5A state champion cross country squad.