DENVER - Missouri-Kansas City's Bryce Miller and Grand Canyon's Kelsi Klotter have been named Western Athletic Conference Runners of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 12-18
Miller, a sophomore from Ashland, Wis. (Ashland HS) led the UMKC men's squad to a seventh place finish in the unseeded race at the Pre-National Invite hosted by Louisville on October 17. Miller placed ninth out of 207 runners with a career-best time in the 8K at 24:14. The time beat his previous record by 53 seconds in which he set last season at the Rim Rock Classic in Lawrence, Kansas.
Klotter, a senior from Eugene, Ore. (Sheldon HS) finished 22nd in the 6k event, leading Grand Canyon for the fourth time this season. Her time of 21:16.4 was nearly thirty seconds faster than her time in the meet last season.
Other men's nominees: Grand Canyon's Samuel Proctor improved his time on the course in Santa Clara by over a minute, placing 46th in the strong field of competition with a time of 25:05.3. This is the fourth meet this season that Proctor has led the Lopes. Gus Arroyo out of Seattle U came back from a previous ankle injury to dominate a large men's field of 116. He was the first Redhawk to cross the finish line for the men, and beat his time last year on the course by about 10 seconds. Arroyo's fast time helped lead the men's team to a first-place finish. Jose Juan Wells from UT Rio Grande Valley finished the 8K race at the Crimson Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama, in 66th place out of 218 runners. He posted a time of 25:59.20 as he finished less than a second behind Belmont's Luke Evans for 65th. Utah Valley's Tyson Lambert ran the 8k in 24:05.1 and placed 62nd place and helped his team to a 35th place finish.
Other women's nominees: Missouri-Kansas City's Sarah Fogarty led the ‘Roos women's squad with a 33rd place finish in the unseeded race at the Pre-National Invite in Louisville, Kentucky on October 17. Fogarty set a new personal-best in the 6K, with a time of 21:33, beating her previous best by 20 seconds, which she set last season at the NCAA Midwest Regional race. Seattle U's Lila Rice was the first Redhawk to cross the finish line for the women, and only the second overall to finish in a field of 72. This challenging home course (again - hills, rocks, and all) was no match for Rice, who shaved about 34 seconds off her time on the same course from last year. Jennifer Zapata out of UT Rio Grande Valley posted a time of 18:11.42 in the 5K race at the Crimson Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama. She finished in 55th place out of 234 runners as she finished less than a second behind Texas A&M's Katie Watson for 54th and she finished less than one minute outside the top-10. Utah Valley's Samantha Heaton ran the 6k in 21:05.9, placing 23rd place and helped her team to a 7th place finish.