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NM STATE'S KETEMA, CSU BAKERSFIELD'S VALDEZ NAMED WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
NM State's Abel Ketema and CSU Bakersfield's Angel Valdez have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
Ketema, a junior from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was the top finisher for the NM State men's team at the Sacramento Capital Cross Challenge, clocking in at 24:41.8. In his first 8k race as an Aggie, Ketema placed 12th out of 226 runners to lead the Aggies to a third-place finish. He posted an average mile time of 4:58.1.
Valdez, a senior from Bakersfield, Calif., finished first among 161 student-athletes at the Mustang Challenge in Santa Clarita, Calif., last weekend with a time of 17:34.8. She smashed her 5k personal best by 44 seconds while breaking the CSUB Division I record by four seconds. Valdez beat runners from UCLA, UC Irvine and CSUN for her 13th-consecutive race pacing the ‘Runners. With the 5k CSUB record, she now owns all three (4k, 5k, 6k) records for the cross country program.
Other Men's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Daniel Flores ran a 25:22 in the 8k at the Greater Louisville Classic to finish 128th ... Quinlan Moll of Kansas City finished fourth of 78 runners at the Rim Rock Classic with a 24:52.6 time in the 8k race ... Seattle U's Eli Boudouris finished eighth out of 155 runners at the Willamette Invitational with a time of 25:18.4 in the 8k course ... Alberto Herrera of UT Rio Grande Valley placed 26th of 330 runners at the Chili Pepper with a time of 3051.4 in the 10k race last Saturday.
Other Women's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Mariah Montoya ran a 17:57.79 in the 5k at the Greater Louisville Classic to finish 104th out of 328 runners ... Mia Jerman of Kansas City won her first collegiate race with a 21:77 finish in the 6k at the Rim Rock Classic last Saturday ... NM State's Crissey Amberg finished 13th out of 239 runners at the Capital Challenge with a time of 21:24.1 in the 6k course ... Olivia Stein of Seattle U finished third of 166 runners at the Willamette Invitational with a time of 17:44.6 in the 5k ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Krysta Martinez placed 87th out of 381 runners at the Chili Pepper, finishing the 5k with a time of 18:40.7.
THREE TEAMS IN ACTION THIS WEEKEND
Three WAC teams are in action on Saturday, as the Chicago State women travel to Kenosha, Wis., for the UW Parkside Lucien Rosa Invitational, while Grand Canyon will participate in the Thunderbird Classic in Mesa, Ariz. Utah Valley heads to Cedar City, Utah, for the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational.
REGIONALLY RANKED
Three men's teams and one women's team are listed in the Oct. 3 USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country rankings. The Kansas City men are ranked ninth in the Midwest Region. In the Mountain Region, Utah Valley is ranked 11th, while NM State is 13th. On the women's side, Utah Valley is ranked 15th in the Mountain Region.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2017 WAC Cross Country Championships are in Las Cruces, N.M. and will be hosted by NM State. The event will take place at the NMSU Golf Course. The Kansas City men look to repeat as champions while the Utah Valley women will attempt a three-peat.