TicketSmarter WAC Cross Country Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – California Baptist's Florian Le Pallec and Greta Karinauskaite have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for September 14 through September 20.
Le Pallec, a senior from Kervignac, France, spearheaded the Lancers' second team win of the young season as he took second overall at the UC Riverside Invitational. He completed the eight-kilometer course in just 23 minutes, 40.7 seconds to earn the runner-up position in a field of 188 competitors. Le Pallec topped his personal best by nearly three seconds to record the second-fastest 8K time in CBU history.
Karinauskaite, a sophomore from Šiauliai, Lithuania, set a new Lancer record to finish atop the podium at the UC Riverside Invitational. She led CBU to a team win behind a 6K time of 20:19.0 to finish ahead of 172 other runners from the likes of Arizona, USC, Arizona State, Long Beach State, Pepperdine and others. This also marks Karinauskaite's personal best and gives her three of CBU's top-25 times in program history.
Other Men's Nominees: Abilene Christian's Levi Chambers helped lead the Wildcats to a team win as he notched a team-best eighth-place finish at the Naimadu Classic, turning in an 8K time of 25:26.8… NM State's Anekin Hetman took sixth in the first home meet of his Aggie career, finishing with a time of 15:09.67 on the 5K course… Utah Valley's Britain Reynolds came away from the OSU Cowboy Jamboree with an 8K time of 24:34.0 to finish 31st in a field of 187 runners… UT Rio Grande Valley's Alex Munoz secured a fourth-place finish at the Westside Classic in San Antonio, completing the 8K course in 27:11.1.
Other Women's Nominees: Abilene Christian's Irene Rono posted a first-place finish as she led ACU to its first team win of the season, crossing the finish line at 21:52.1 (6.2K)… NM State's Emily Stutesman had a strong outing at the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial Open, crossing in sixth-place with a time of 17:44.62 in the 5K race… UT Rio Grande Valley's Aaliyah Garza posted a personal record of 24:10.5 in the 6K race to finish in second place at the Westside Classic… Utah Valley's Maddie Bench Empey paced all Wolverines at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree, finishing with a time of 21:20.9 to place 11th in a very competitive field.