The University of Mary Marauders

The NDPF Female Athlete of the Week is Alyssa Becker, a distance runner from UMary Cross Country and Track & Field. Becker led a dominating debut for the 2023 UMary Women's Cross Country team as they nearly had a perfect finish Friday at the Dragon Twilight. Becker picked up right where she left off last season when she qualified for the NCAA DII Cross Country National Championships a year after earning All-American status as a freshman. 

Becker started her third year off in style by winning the 2023 Dragon Twilight in the Randy Smith Women's 4000m Race. Becker not only improved on her runner-up finish from the 2022 event, but blazed past the finish line with a winning time of 14:01.70. 

Though she finished first, Becker was not alone for long at the finish line. Many other Marauders finished the 4k in impressive fashion with Andrijana Fundak (14:07.30) coming in second place, Kristine Kalthoff (14:16.20) finishing third, and Terez Wycklendt (14:31.30) coming in fifth place to round out the top five. UMary Women's XC won the team title as well with an astonishing 17 points. 

Becker is a junior from Seabeck, WA.