Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Christine Butler (Matteson, Ill.) is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week.

Butler, a senior for the Cougars, secured an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II national championships in the triple jump at the SEMOtion Relays in Cape Girardeau, Missouri over the weekend.

She won the event at the meet with a jump of 12.40 meters. The effort currently ranks Butler first on the GLVC outdoor performance list and second on the national performance list.

SIUE will next compete at the Western Illinois Memorial on Saturday.

Other top performers in the GLVC last week included Bellarmine’s Emma Gailey, Lewis’ Christine Kustra, Missouri S&T’s Leah Morehead and UIndy’s Amy Schmitz.