Complete Release in PDF
WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ANNOUNCED
Utah Valley's Tyson Lambert and Kansas City's Sarah Fogarty have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Aug. 28-Sept. 3.
Lambert, a senior from Grantsville, Utah, opened his senior campaign with an individual victory at the Utah Valley Invitational last weekend, winning the men's 5k with a time of 15:15.8 in a field of 46 competitors. He led the Wolverines to the team title as Utah Valley, which was ranked No. 14 in Mountain Region in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association preseason rankings, tallied 33 points to earn the narrow victory ahead of No. 4 Southern Utah with 34 points.
Fogarty, a senior from O'Fallon, Mo., opened the season with a victory at the Bob Timmons Dual Classic last Saturday, beating 23 student-athletes in the 5k race, including seven from Kansas, with a time of 18:03.7. After sitting out last season, Fogarty won her first collegiate race, finishing in the top 10 at the Bob Timmons Dual Classic for the first time in her career.
Other Men's Nominees: Chicago State's Dijon Smith placed 13th with a time of 19:19.19 in the 6k at the Flames/Flyers Opener last Saturday ... Daylan Quinn of Kansas City finished fourth out of 28 with a time of 19:13.5 in the 6k at the Bob Timmons Dual Classic ... NM State's Eli Kosgei ran a 21:23.40 in the 6,125 meter Texas Tech Dual Meet ... Matthew Seidel of Seattle U finished 13th in the UW-Seattle U Dual with a time of 22:55.51 ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Alberto Herrera finished 10th of 58 runners with a time of 18:40.7 in the Texas A&M Aggie Opener 6k.
Other Women's Nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Angel Valdez took third out of 44 runners at the Pepperdine Invitational with a time of 14:55.5 in the 4k ... Crissey Amberg of NM State took first at the Texas Tech Dual Meet with a time of 18:06.50 in 4,523 meter race ... Seattle U's Olivia Stein finished 11th in the UW-Seattle U Dual with a time of 17:00.38 in the 4.8k race ... Krysta Martinez of UT Rio Grande Valley finished with a time of 15:31.4 in the 4.1k at the Texas A&M Aggie Opener ... Utah Valley's Savannah Berry claimed the top spot in the women's 5k at the Utah Valley Invitational with a time of 18:33.7.
LIGHT WEEKEND AHEAD
Just two WAC schools are in action this weekend, as NM State heads to the UTEP Lori Fitzgerald Open on Friday and CSU Bakersfield will participate in the Fresno State Invitational on Saturday.
REGIONALLY RANKED
Four men's teams and one women's team were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Preseason Rankings. The UMKC men are ranked 14th in the Midwest region. In the Mountain region, Utah Valley opens the season ranked 14th while NM State is 15th. On the women's side, Utah Valley is ranked 13th 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.
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2017 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 10. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Seattle (Host: Washington), the Mountain Region will be held in Logan, Utah (Host: Utah State), the South Central Regional will take place in College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) and the Midwest Region will take place in Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State).
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2017 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 18, and is hosted by Louisville. The race will take place at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.
SIX WAC CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS EARN USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS
Two men's and four women's cross country teams from around the WAC were honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as All-Academic Teams.
The 2016 WAC Cross Country champion Kansas City men's team was one of two WAC teams honored after posting a 3.40 grade-point average. Seattle U was also recognized as the Redhawks held a 3.39 GPA.
On the women's side, Seattle U led all WAC schools with an impressive 3.66 team GPA. The Kansas City women were honored with a 3.52 GPA while NM State (3.49 GPA) and UT Rio Grande Valley (3.07 GPA) also received All-Academic honors.
Overall, there were 431 teams that earned distinction from the USTFCCCA for their efforts both athletically and academically. Of those 431 teams, 242 were women's and 189 were men's.