SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior Steve Weeks (Arvada, Colo.) of the Orange cross country team and ice hockey student-athlete senior Julie Rising (Anchorage, Alaska) are the Syracuse University Scholar-Athletes of the Week for the week of Sept. 27, 2010.

Weeks has finished in the top three runners in Syracuse's first two races. At the BIG EAST Preview, SU's first home meet since 2004, he was the Orange's top finisher. Weeks placed second overall with a time of 25:28.00 in the 6k race. The following weekend, he crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 25:28.00 in the 8k at the Colgate invitational. He was part of a pack of Orange harriers that claimed seven of the top 10 spots in that meet.

Weeks, a hospitality and food service management major, and the rest of the ninth-ranked men's team will travel to Madison, Wis. this weekend to compete in the Wisconsin Adidas Interregional. The Orange men will look to defend their first-place finish from last year's meet in Wisconsin.

Rising is one of four team captains that will lead Syracuse into its third season of the program. She played in every game last year for the Orange as it went 18-17-1 in only its second season. As a forward, she recorded 15 goals and 16 assists, which was second on the team last season.

Rising, a sociology major, and the Orange will begin the 2010 season when they welcome Northeastern to Tennity Ice Pavilion on Friday, October 1. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. and will also be streamed live on Orange All-Access.