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WAC Runners of the Week
Grand Canyon's Samuel Proctor and Seattle U's Lila Rice have been named Western Athletic Conference Runners of the Week, respectively, for the week of Sept. 14-20.
Proctor placed fourth in the Mustang Challenge with a time of 25:22.93-besting his personal record in the 8k event by nearly three minutes. He led the Lopes to their fifth place finish and the team averaged a 45 second better pace time than last season at the same meet.
Rice led Seattle U with a time of 22:00.88 in the 6k at the Sundodger Invitational. This is the second week in a row that the junior was the first Redhawk to cross the finish line. The women finished the 6K in 6th place with an average time of 22:26.89. It was another strong showing from the women in what was really the first full-length meet of the season.
Other men's nominees: Chay Weaver of Seattle U led the Redhawks to a 3rd place team finish in the 8K. The sophomore placed 20th with a time of 25:12.88 and beat his time from last year in the same meet by almost 40 seconds.
Other women's nominees: Bakersfield's Angel Valdez broke into CSUB Division I Top 10 after leading the 'Runners for the third consecutive race. Her time of 19:10.5 in the 5k race was good enough to tie for ninth best and demolished her previous personal best by 46 seconds. Kelsi Klotter finished seventh in the 5k event, leading Grand Canyon to their fifth place finish. Her time of 18:00.74 was over a minute faster than her time on the course last season.
CSU Bakersfield
The ‘Runners finished sixth of the six Division I teams at the Mustang Challenge. The highly competitive field featured programs like Loyola Marymount, UCLA, and fellow WAC member Grand Canyon. Valdez finished 67th overall out of a massive 226-woman field.
Grand Canyon
Both the men's and women's cross country teams improved their placement in the Mustang Challenge from last season. The men's squad improved from eighth to fifth place, while women's squad improved from sixth to fifth. Both teams averaged a 45 second faster average pace time in the event. The men's team was led by Samuel Proctor's fourth place finish who bested his personal record on the course by nearly three minutes. The men's team was led by senior Kelsi Klotter who outpaced her time from last season by over a minute for a seventh place finish (18:00.74).
Missouri-Kansas City
For the second season in a row, the UMKC men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Coming off a successful Forest Park Festival, the ‘Roos look to really test themselves and continue to prepare for the WAC Championships at the end of the season. The men's team will be running an 8K, their first of the season, which will prove to be a true test of their abilities. The women will run their first 6K of the season and hope to continue the trend of improving their results each meet.
Seattle U
This was the first full-length meet for Seattle U this season. Head coach Trisha Steidl was proud of the way the men's and women's teams ran, and noted improvement from last year at this time. Steidl said the men's team ran about 30 seconds faster than last year. At Sundodger this last Saturday, the spread of the top 6 men's runners was only 19 seconds.
UTRGV
The Vaqueros did not compete last week. The men's team is coming off of a 10th place finish at the Rice Invitational where they were paced by sophomore Rick Montero, who finished in 60th place with a time of 20:21.42. Sophomores Teresa Sova and Jennifer Zapata led the women's team, who finished in sixth place, as they finished in 13th and 17th respectively. Sova posted a time of 17:13.40 in the 4K race while Zapata posted a time of 17:18.60.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2015 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Orem, Utah. This year's championships will be hosted by Utah Valley. The Utah Valley men will look to win a third-consecutive WAC title. Seattle U claimed the women's title last season and will be looking to repeat.