ARLINGTON, Texas – California Baptist’s Rikus Van Niekerk and Utah Valley’s Morgan Nokes have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Cross Country Athletes of the Week, for the week ending on Saturday, Sept. 2.
 
Van Niekerk (Jr.) ran to his first collegiate win in the Mark Covert Classic held by Cal State Fullerton. His 8K time of 24:11.8 allowed him to place first overall out of 137 finishers in the field. Van Niekerk’s stellar performance helped CBU place first in the meet and contributed to a CBU podium sweep.
 
The Utah State transfer, Nokes (Jr.), won her first meet as a Wolverine in the UVU Invitational. Nokes took first prize over 83 other competitors with a 5K time of 16:24.0. The UVU women’s team placed first as they occupied five of the top six overall spots in the meet.
 
2023 TicketSmarter WAC Cross Country Weekly Awards
 
MEN’S ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Rikus Van Niekerk, Jr., California Baptist (Sept. 6)
 
WOMEN’S ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Morgan Nokes, Jr., Utah Valley (Sept. 6)