United Athletic Conference

 

Lamar's George Wheeler and Yasmin Austridge have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for September 21 through September 27.

 

Wheeler, a freshman from Milton Keynes, England, turned in an individual first-place finish last week, helping Lamar claim the team title at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede. At 18 minutes and 43.4 seconds, Wheeler spanned the 4-mile course more than 21 seconds faster than any competitor to mark the fastest time the WAC has seen this year. This also marks Wheeler's second individual win in as many races as he took the top spot at the Rice Invitational to open his collegiate career.

 

Austridge, a freshman from London, England, was the Cardinals' top finisher at the Cowboy Stampede as she posted a time of 17:43.9 in the 5,000-meter contest. This also marks the quickest 5K time in the WAC thus far, joining teammate Wheeler as a WAC front runner.

 

Other Men's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Jacob Lewis was the Lopes' top finisher at the Roy Griak Invitational, placing 50th with a time of 25:40.0… Tarleton's Kevin Baez posted Tarleton's fastest 8K time in over a decade, finishing with a time of 24:01.30 to place 6th at the Texas A&M Invitational… Utah Valley's Habtamu Cheney led the Wolverine men on Saturday as he placed second overall with a time of 18:31.6 in the 6K race at the Idaho State Open.

 

Other Women's Nominees: Grand Canyon's Hana Hall paced the Lopes this weekend as she took 91st out of 234 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational with a personal best 6K time of 23:03.2… Tarleton's Brooke Wendel came away from the Texas A&M Invitational as the Texans' top finisher, crossing the finish line at 18:44.30 on the 5K course… Utah Valley's Zoe Hales helped UVU pick up a third-place team finish at the Idaho State Open as she finished third overall with a time of 22:34.0 in the 6K meet.

 

It is a busy weekend for WAC programs as eight conference schools are in action on either Friday or Saturday. California Baptist and Utah Valley kick off the week as they both have runners competing in the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind. NM State is also set to run away from home, running in the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.

 

Saturday is headlined by Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin slated to run in the Chile Pepper Invite in Feyetteville, Ark. Meanwhile, both Abilene Christian and UT Rio Grande Valley are set to compete in the UIW Invitational in San Antonio. Seattle U will also hit the course as they take a trip to Salem, Ore. to run in the Charles Bowles Invitational.

 

Four men's teams and three women's teams were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Week 3 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 sixth. California Baptist also has both programs ranked, with the men coming in at ninth in the West Region and the women slotted in 11th. 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 ninth. Lamar also had its men's teams represented in the South Central Region as the Cardinals claimed the ninth 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 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.