United Athletic Conference

Utah Valley's Kevin Lynch and California Baptist's Anett Somogyi have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 10 - 16.

 

Lynch, a junior from Sandy, Utah, won the UC Riverside Men's 8K Invitational with a blazing time of 23:58.2 en route to leading Utah Valley to a second-place finish out of 21 teams. Lynch was the top individual finisher out of 172 competitors in his race and his time is good enough for second place in the UVU record books at the course.

 

Somogyi, a junior from Veszprem, Hungary, took second at the UC Riverside Invitational, covering the 6k course in a time of 20:19.8. As a team, the Lancers were also second, finishing one spot ahead of fellow WAC opponent Utah Valley.

 

Other Men's Nominees: California Baptist's Simon Bedard took seventh at the UCR Invitational, finishing the course in 24:20.8 to lead the Lancers to a fifth-place team finish … Grand Canyon's Daniel Flores took third at the Dave Murray Invitational, covering the 6,000m course in 19:24.7 ... NM State's Anthony Molina was the top finisher for the Aggies, taking seventh at the Lori Fitzgerald Open.

 

Other Women's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Lindy Jacobson moved into second-place in the GCU record book with a fourth place finish in the 4K at the Dave Murray Invitational … NM State's Jess Dominguez took ninth at the Lori Fitzgerald Open to lead the Aggies in the 5K race … Utah Valley's Hannah Branch led the Wolverines with a 12th-place finish at the UCR Invitational, finishing the course in 20:54.5.

 

It's a light week around the WAC with just two schools in action. UT Rio Grande Valley makes the short trip to Corpus Christi for the Islander Splash while Seattle U heads down I-5 to Springfield, Ore. for the Dellinger Invitational.

 

A pair of men's teams and a pair of women's teams are mentioned in the most recent USTFCCCA Regional Rankings. On the men's side, Kansas City is ranked 15th in the Midwest Region while Utah Valley is 11th in the Mountain Region. For the women, UT Rio Grande Valley is 13th in the South Central Region and California Baptist is 14th in the West Region.

 

When UT Rio Grande Valley duo Abraham Chirchir and Mercy Chelangat won the Texas A&M Aggie Opener on Aug. 31, it marked the first time since prior to 2004 that UTRGV swept the men's and women's races at a meet. It was also UTRGV's first women's win since 2012.

 

The 2018 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed to Seattle and will be hosted by Seattle U. The event will take place at Jefferson Park Golf Course. The Kansas City men look for the three-peat as champions while the NM State women will look to defend their 2017 title.

 

The 2018 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 9. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Sacramento (Host: Sacramento State), the Mountain Region will be held in Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young), the South Central Regional will take place in College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) and the Midwest Region will take place in Peoria, Ill. (Host: Bradley). 

 

The 2018 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Madison, Wis. on Nov. 17, and is hosted by Wisconsin. The race will take place at Zimmer Championship Course.