DENVER - Utah Valley's Jason Lynch and UT Rio Grande Valley's Jennifer Zapata have been named Western Athletic Conference Male and Female Cross Country Runners of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 27 - Oct. 3.
Lynch, a senior from Sandy, Utah (Hillcrest HS), led Utah Valley to a win in the Gold Race at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, covering the 5-mile course in a time of 24:40. His fourth-place finish was the highest among the Wolverines, while it was also his third-straight top-10 finish of the year. As a team, UVU bested Clemson, Marshall and Vanderbilt, among others, to earn their first win of the season.
Zapata, a junior from Los Fresnos, Texas (Los Fresnos HS), posted a 31st-place finish at the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival to lead UTRGV to an eighth-place finish. She finished the 5000-meter course in a career-best time of 17:59.96, which is also the ninth fastest 5K time in program history. The Vaqueros performance was strong enough to get them national attention as the team is now ranked 10th in the latest USTFCCCA South Central Region rankings.
Other male nominees: Chicago State's DiJon Smith finished seventh out of 41 runners at the Greater Louisville Classic … Grand Canyon's Samuel Proctor was the top WAC finisher at the Washington Invitational, covering the 8km course in a time of 24:32 … UMKC's Nathan Keown finished 35th at the Rim Rock Invitational to lead the ‘Roos … Seattle U's Chay Weaver was the first Seattle U runner across the line at the Washington Invitational to help the Redhawks beat Grand Canyon in the team standings.
Other female nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Angel Valdez led the ‘Runners for an eighth straight race and finished 21st out of 141 runners at The Mustang Challenge … Chicago State's Vialy Garcia-Hernandez finished as the Cougars' top runner at the Greater Louisville Classic … Grand Canyon's Elizabeth Balsan ran a 21:33 on the 6k course at the Washington Invitational to lead all WAC runners … UMKC's Sarah Jaloma ran the 6k course at the Rim Rock Invitational in 23:42 to pace the ‘Roos … Seattle U's Olivia Stein nearly matched her persona best in the 6k, posting a time of 21:48.9 at the Washington Invitational … Utah Valley's McKenzie Preece notched the Wolverines' top time in a meet for the first time this year, placing 16th at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.