United Athletic Conference

Grand Canyon's Joseph Skoog and Utah Valley's Maddie Bench Empey have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for January 25 through February 1.

 

Skoog, a redshirt freshman from Mill Creek, Wash., took third at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge to lead the Lopes to a second-place team finish. He covered the 8k course in 24:23.4 to help GCU beat rival Utah Valley for the first time in program history. The time is the fourth-best in the WAC this season. 

 

Bench Empey, a junior from American Fork, Utah, led the Wolverines to their first team win since October of 2019 by placing fourth individually at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge, hosted by UNLV. She finished the 6k course in 20:58.7 in what is the fourth-fastest time in the WAC this season. As a team, the Wolverines bested WAC foe Grand Canyon, as well as the Mountain West trio of Boise State, Air Force and San Diego State.

 

Other Men's Nominees: Tarleton's Kevin Baez was the fastest finisher among WAC runners at the UIW Invitational, posting a time of 24:43.20 … UT Rio Grande Valley's Tristan Pena set a new PR in the 8k, finishing seventh at the UIW Invitational in a time of 24:45.4 … Utah Valley's Geofrey Kemboi took fourth at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge with a time of 24:23.8.

 

Other Women's Nominees: Tarleton's Jenna Brazeal led the Texans in their first Division I race, taking 26th in the 6k at the UIW Invitational with a time of 23:16.70 … UT Rio Grande Valley's Samantha Gonzalez took 16th in her first collegiate race, posting a time of 22:35.0 in the UIW Invitational 6k.

 

Despite the season just starting, just a few weeks remain before the WAC Championship on Feb. 27 in Seattle. This week, California Baptist will be the only team in action, heading across country for the FSU Winter Classic in Tallahassee, Fla.

 

The 2020-21 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed back to Seattle and will take place at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle. Last year, the CBU women made history, posting the first perfect score in conference history and will head to Seattle as the two-time champs. On the men's side, Utah Valley will look to defend its title once again.

 

The NCAA Cross Country Championships will look a little different this spring. Instead of qualifying via NCAA Regionals, which will return this fall, teams will be selected by the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Committee. The committee will select 31 at-large teams for both men and women and the top eligible individual finisher at each conference championship who is not part of a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA championship. The 2020-21 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held on March 15 at OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla.

 

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

 

Among those teams that received the award, both the men's and women's programs from California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle U and Utah Valley were honored. The women's programs from NM State and UT Rio Grande Valley also earned recognition. In addition, WAC newcomer Tarleton was also honored at the Division II level with the Texans' men's team garnering the award.

 

For the second consecutive year, the CBU women's team claimed the highest grade-point average among WAC teams, posting a 3.726 cumulative GPA.

 

In total, 264 different women's programs and 199 different men's programs were honored across Division I.

 

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.

 

The Grand Canyon, Tarleton and Utah Valley men's teams each had one honoree as Grant Carpenter represented the Lopes, Larry Still earned recognition for the Wolverines, and Colton Troutman was honored for the Texans.

 

On the women's side, GCU had three representatives while two members of the Tarleton State team were recognized. The Lopes' Madelyn Lundberg, Alyson Schwartz and Niki Xydona earned the honor while Jasmine McQuirter and Kylee Ponder represented Tarleton.

 

Across Division I, 452 men and 659 women received honors.