United Athletic Conference

Utah Valley's Kevin Lynch and California Baptist's Emilie Renaud have been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 9-15.

 

Lynch, a redshirt senior from Sandy, Utah, posted the top 8k time in the WAC this season, taking third among over 200 runners at the UC Riverside Invitational in California. Making his season debut, he covered the course in 24:14.82 to help the Wolverines earn a fourth-place finish among 26 teams competing.

 

Renaud, a sophomore from Clermont-Ferrand, France, set a new PR in the 6k at the UC Riverside Invitational, taking third among 164 runners with a time of 20:25.20. Her top-three finish also helped lead the Lancers to the team title and allow CBU to move up to seventh in the most recent USTFCCCA West Region rankings.

 

Other Men's Nominees: California Baptist's McMarshall Hartzenberg took 11th in the 8k at the UC Riverside Invitational with a time of 24:38.41 … Grand Canyon's Jacob Lewis took third out of 40 runners in the 7k at the Dave Murray Invitational … NM State's Anthony Molina led the Aggies at the Lori Fitzgerald Open, placing sixth with a time of 20:40.18 in a 6.4km race … UT Rio Grande Valley's Abraham Chirchir won the Texas A&M Invitational with a time of 24:36.9 over the 8k course.

 

Other Women's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Paige Hildebrandt finished second in the 5K at the Dave Murray Invitational, posting a time of 18:14.9 and helping the Lopes also earn a second-place team finish … NM State's Maggie Gibbs was the top finishing Aggie at the Lori Fitzgerald Open, placing eighth with a time of 17:31.16 … UT Rio Grande Valley's Sharon Koima took eighth at the Texas A&M Invitational, running a time of 18:39.9 in the 5K race … Utah Valley's Mazzie Melaney helped lead the Wolverines to a fourth-place finish with a time of 21:03.15 in the 6K UC Riverside Invitational.

 

It's a light week with Chicago State the only school racing this week as the Cougars will head to Peoria, Ill. for the Bradley Intercollegiate.

 

Three men's teams and four women's teams were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Preseason Rankings. In the Mountain Region, the Utah Valley men remain 14th while on the women's side, the UVU women climbed to nine and NM State entered the poll at 15. UT Rio Grande Valley is ranked 12th in both the men's and women's South Central Region. In the West Region, the California Baptist men are ranked 10th and the women, who are also among those teams receiving votes in the national poll, are ranked seventh.

 

The 2019 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed to the Show-Me State and will be hosted by Kansas City. The event will take place at Swope Park. California Baptist will look for a second straight women's title while Utah Valley heads to KC as the defending champion on the men's side.

 

The 2019 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 15. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Colfax, Wash. (Host: Washington State), the Mountain Region will be held in Salt Lake City (Host: Utah), the South Central Regional will take place in Fayetteville, Ark. (Host: Arkansas) and the Midwest Region will take place in Stillwater, Okla. (Host: Oklahoma State). 

 

The 2019 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 23, and is hosted by Indiana State. The race will take place at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

 

A total of 11 WAC cross country teams were honored for their success in the classroom, as well as on the course, by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, earning Team Academic Awards.

 

Both the men and women from California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Kansas City, Seattle U and Utah Valley were honored. The NM State women also earned the academic award.

 

NM State had the top women's GPA among WAC schools at 3.67. Grand Canyon boasted the top GPA among the men's teams with a 3.63 mark. To qualify, a team must hold a combined cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.