TicketSmarter WAC Cross Country Athletes of the Week Announced
DENVER – UT Rio Grande Valley's Abraham Chirchir and Utah Valley's Mazzie Melaney Preston have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for August 31 through September 6.
Chirchir, a junior from Iten, Kenya, paced UTRGV in its first meet of the season, taking first place overall at the UIW Twilight to help the Vaqueros earn a third-place team finish. His time of 18:23.5 in the 6k was 14.1 seconds ahead of the next closest runner, leading a field of 74 runners from seven different programs. Chirchir's time also marks the fifth-fastest time in UTRGV history.
Preston, a junior from Farr West, Utah, opened her season with a strong outing as she won the individual 5k title at the UVU Invitational. She covered the course in a time of 17:56.8 to out-stride the other 49 competitors while helping lead Utah Valley to a first-place team finish. The Wolverines came in ahead of several strong teams, besting Utah, Southern Utah, Idaho State and Dixie State.
Other Men's Nominees: California Baptist's Ivo Balabanov came in as the Lancers' top finisher, finishing first in the 6k ( at the Anteater Opener in Irvine, Calif… Dixie State's Kevin Kirk finished 37th at the UVU Invitational with a 5k time of 15:44.1 to lead all Trailblazers… Grand Canyon's Landon Rast recorded a personal best time of 23:41.5 to finish sixth at the George Kyte Classic as he was the first Lope to cross the finish line… Seattle U's Giuliano Scasso notched a first-place finish as he was the only Redhawk runner to come in ahead of all runners from a 13th ranked Washington squad, crossing with a time of 20:26.11 in the 4-mile event… Utah Valley's Britain Reynolds picked up where he left off as he turned in a first place finish in the 5k (14:54.6) at the UVU Invitational.
Other Women's Nominees: California Baptist's Yasna Petrova came away with a first-place finish in her collegiate debut as she finished ahead of the pack in the 4k with a time of 14:06.8 at the Anteater Opener… Dixie State's Rylee Jacobsen turned in the Trailblazers' top performance last week as she finished 16th with a time of 19:24.4 in the 5k at the UVU Invitational… Grand Canyon's Hana Hall was the Lopes' top finisher with a 12th-place finish (16:44.8) in the 2.5 mile race at the George Kyte Classic… UT Rio Grande Valley's Samantha Gonzalez recorded a 15th-place finish for the Vaqueros as she finished with a time of 15:25.0 in the 4k.