IRVING, Texas - Baylor cross country freshman Eric Anderson was named the Big 12 Men's Runner of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Anderson led the BU men's squad to a second-place finish at the UTA Season Opener on Saturday. The Nashville, Tenn., native covered the 5,000-meter course in 15:07.6 to take third overall.

The freshman's finish helped BU keep its total point tally low at 42 as the men finished 23 points off first place UT-Arlington (19) and beat third-place North Texas (77) by 35 points.

Anderson was also Baylor's top runner at the season-opening Bear Twilight Invitational two weeks ago. In that meet, he placed fifth with a 6,000-meter time of 18:30.3.

Anderson becomes just the seventh Baylor men's runner and just the second freshman Bear to be honored by the Big 12. Baylor's last men's runner honored was then-freshman JR Hardy on Sept. 11, 2012.

Baylor's men's and women's squads will travel this weekend to the Texas A&M Invitational, which begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday in College Station.

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