WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University sophomore Tara Dooley (Lee/Lee HS) has been named the Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week following her winning performance on Saturday in the Ted Owen Invitational, hosted by Central Connecticut State at Stanley Quarter Park. It's the second time in her career she's received the honor.

Dooley, in her 2012 season debut, earned her first career victory by about 4.6 seconds over Michelle Gaye of Marist College with a time of 17:35.84 for 5,000 meters.

Last fall, Dooley was Bentley's number one runner in all four meets she ran. She was second in both the Northeast-10 and NCAA Division II East Region championships, was 28th in the New England Championships and 49th in the NCAA Division II Championships. Prior to the 2011 season, she had never previously run cross country.

Dooley was also a member of Bentley's women's lacrosse team last spring, and appeared in nine of the team's 19 games.

Two other Bentley cross country runners, Sean Maguire (Essex, Vt./Essex HS) and Caitlin Fahey (Bridgewater/Coyle-Cassidy HS), were selected to the NE-10 Weekly Honor Roll for their efforts in Saturday's meet. Fahey finished tenth with a time of 18:41.71, and Maguire was the top NE-10 finisher in the men's race, placing 16th overall in 26:42.56.

Bentley has this weekend off in preparation for the New England Championships, which will be Oct. 7 in Westfield.