United Athletic Conference

 

The 2021 WAC Cross Country Championships are set to take place at UC Riverside Agricultural Operations in Riverside, Calif. The men's race will go off at 9 a.m. PT while the women are set to begin at 10 a.m. PT.

 

With a total of 20 first-place votes across the men's and women's polls, California Baptist is the favorite to repeat as WAC Champions in both races.

 

On the men's side, the Lancers were selected to win the WAC Championship, receiving 144 points and 12 first-place votes. Utah Valley was selected second with 131 points and the remaining first-place vote, while Grand Canyon took third with 122 points. The four WAC newcomers followed GCU as Lamar was picked to finish fourth, Abilene Christian landed in fifth, Sam Houston was sixth and Stephen F. Austin came collected the seventh spot. UT Rio Grande Valley was slotted in eighth, followed by Dixie State in ninth, NM State in 10th and Tarleton in 11th. Seattle U and Chicago State rounded out the poll.

 

On the women's side, California Baptist is the favorite to pick up its fourth WAC title with the Lancers earning eight first-place votes and 139 points overall. Abilene Christian was picked second with 127 points and three first-place votes. Utah Valley followed closely behind with 125 points and the final two first-place votes to earn third in the poll. NM State was selected to finish fourth with Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin coming next in line. Seattle U was just two points shy of the Lumberjacks as they collected the seventh spot. Dixie State was picked eighth, followed by Sam Houston in ninth, UT Rio Grande Valley in 10th and Lamar in 11th. Meanwhile, Tarleton and Chicago State closed out the poll on the women's side.

 

 

Four teams on both the men's and women's sides were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Week 5 Rankings. Both the men's and women's programs for Utah Valley were recognized in the Mountain Region as the men were ranked 10th while the women came in at ninth. California Baptist also has both programs ranked, with the men coming at seventh in the West Region and the women slotted in seventh. Abilene Christian women's team claims the highest regional ranking among WAC schools as they climbed to second in the South Central Region. Lamar had its men's teams represented in the South Central Region as the Cardinals claimed the ninth spot. Sam Houston's men remained in the rankings as they are slotted in 15th in the South Central Region. Meanwhile, the NM State women's team jumped into the regional rankings for the first time this season, landing in 13th in the Mountain Region

 

The 2021 Cross Country National Championships are set to return to their normal format and will take place in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 20. The race is hosted by Florida State and will take place at Apalachee Regional Park.

 

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its 2020 All-Academic Teams for the 2020 season and 10 different WAC schools were honored.

 

Among those teams that received the award, both the men's and women's programs from Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Seattle U, UT Rio Grande Valley and Utah Valley were honored. The women's programs from Grand Canyon, Lamar and NM State also earned honors. In addition, individual athletes from Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin were recognized. 

 

In order to earn honors, a team's cumulative GPA must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

 

Several individual student-athletes were also honored, earning All-Academic honors by holding a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA and either finishing the season ranked in the top 96 nationally or in the top 48 in any championship relay event during the most recent indoor season or have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

 

WAC-newcomer Abilene Christian had three honored as Sean Germany, Jack Marshall and Avery Williams represented the Wildcats. GCU also had three honored with Jacob Lewis, Jesse Newman and Josh Onwordi as did Utah Valley, who had Caleb Furnell, Andre Jones and Isaac Manning earn honors. Sam Houston was recognized by Eric Callaway and Clayton Fritsch and Stephen F. Austin was represented by Chad Horstmann and Cord Neal. UT Rio Grande Valley was the final school to have a male athlete honored as Paul May earned recognition.

 

On the women's side, Abilene Christian led the way with six recognized as Ella Anttila, Annina Brandenburg, Payton Kirk, Irene Rono, Zoe Spinn and Taylor Toelen were recognized. GCU had five honored with Megan Fry, Paige Hildenbrandt, Madelyn Lundberg, Alyson Schwartz and Niki Xydona representing the Lopes. Stephen F. Austin was represented by the trio of Kayle Bizzell, Mathilde Coquillaud-Salomon and Nissi Kabongo. Three schools had two honored with NM State's Yemisi Oroyinyin and Terice Steen, Sam Houston's Alie Angelo and Halie Daniel and UT Rio Grande Valley's Desirea Buerge and Tamara Woodley all receiving the award. Lamar was represented by Parl Eelma and UVU's Hannah Branch earned honors

 

Across Division I, more than 850 men and 1,110 women received honors.