United Athletic Conference

 

Following a shortened offseason, teams are back in action this week as Abilene Christian and California Baptist kick off their seasons today. The Wildcats are in College Station, Texas for the Aggie Opener while CBU is in Irvine, Calif., for the Anteater Opener hosted by UC Irvine. Six other WAC schools begin their 2021 campaign this weekend as well. Stephen F. Austin and Seattle U stay put as the Lumberjacks host the SFA Opener while Seattle U goes across town for a dual with Washington. Dixie State will run alongside Utah Valley as the Wolverines host the UVU Invitational on Friday. UT Rio Grande Valley will get itself ready to compete at the UIW Twilight in San Antonio while Grand Canyon heads north to run in the George Kyte Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz.

 

Five men's teams and four women's teams were listed in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Cross Country Preseason Rankings. Both the men's and women's programs for Utah Valley were recognized in the Mountain Region as the men ranked ninth and the women ranked eighth. California Baptist also has both programs ranked, with the men coming in at eighth in the West Region and the women slotted in 10th. Abilene Christian was the WAC's third school to land two programs inside the regional rankings as the Wildcats' men's team ranks 14th in the South Central Region and the women's team ranks 10th. Stephen F. Austin followed this trend as the Lumberjack men's and women's teams both came in at No. 13 in the South Central Region. Lamar also had its men's teams represented in the South Central Region as the Cardinals claimed the eighth spot.

 

The 2021 WAC Cross Country Championships are set to take place at UC Riverside Agricultural Operations in Riverside, Calif. Last year, California Baptist completed the sweep as they claimed WAC titles on the men's and women's sides. This marked only the 10th time in WAC history that a school's men's and women's teams hoisted the WAC trophy. California Baptist also became just the fifth school in WAC history to achieve such a feat.

 

The 2021 Cross Country National Championships are set to return to its 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 Grand Valley's Desirea Buerge and Tamara Woodley all receiving the award. Lamar was represtend by Parl Eelma and UVU's Hannah Branch earned honors

 

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