Men, women win both the team trophy as well as top individual honors
Kyle McDonald | Sports editor | @kylesportsbias
OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University men’s and women’s cross country teams were picked to win the Western Athletic Conference Championships by the coaches in a pre-race vote on Friday afternoon. They didn’t disappoint on Saturday morning as both the men and the women brought home the team titles. Both teams also took home first-place individual honors with Jason Lynch winning the men’s 8k race and freshman Sam Heaton won the women’s 5k race.
It marks the third WAC Championship in a row for the men’s team while the women picked up their first title after finishing in second place in each of their first two years in the conference.
Lynch ran the 8k in an impressive 23:58.86 time as he and three other Wolverines finished in the top six. Chris Brower, Tyson Lambert and Logan Petty finished 4th, 5th, and 6th while senior Trac Norris finished 9th. It helped the men accumulate just 25 points which was enough to easily outdistance second place University of Missouri-Kansas City, who scored 47.
Heaton finished in a time of 18:05.74 and led the charge as the Wolverines swept top honors in the women’s race. McKayla Morgan finished 2nd and Harley Murray finished 3rd. They also placed four other runners in the top-25 as Jasmine Nesbitt finished 13th followed by Savannah Berry at 15, Shevaun Ames at 21 and Bridget Hazel at 22. The women ran by the competition as they accumulated just 34 points compared to 66 by second place UMKC.
“This conference has been around for decades, and for our men to have a three-peat is an amazing accomplishment for Utah Valley, we have set this tradition for ourselves, and each year with a new team we have been able to achieve our goals of becoming conference champions,” head coach and WAC Coach of the Year Scott Houle in a statement to wolverinegreen.com. “Our women were overdue for this championship title, especially after being edged out by two points by Seattle U last year, so I am so happy for these women to have this success because they deserve it and they have worked hard for this all year.”
The Wolverines move on to the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on November 14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
