• Following an impressive ninth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, Cal Poly’s Laura Hollander was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America team. The true freshman garnered the elite status after running the NCAA Championship 6K course in a top-10 time of 19:45. Hollander, who was named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after winning the Big West Conference Championship in a course record time of 19:12.6, finished second at the NCAA West Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.
• Five Big West cross country athletes found their names among the best in the nation after the USTFCCCA announced its all-region team. Cal Poly’s David Cardona and UC Davis’ Trevor Halsted recieved honors on the men’s side following their success at the NCAA West Regional. On the women’s side, Mustang Laura Hollander and Aggies Sarah Sumpter and Alycia Cridenbring earned all-region recognition.
• Cal Poly captured both the men’s and women’s Big West Cross Country Championship, which took place at the UC Riverside Ag/Ops Course for the fifth consecutive year. The men’s team collected its second straight title and 12th in the past 15 seasons while the women’s program nabbed its first conference crown since 2001.
Placing five runners in the top 10 lifted the Mustang men to a first-place point total of 25, a 23-point advantage over second place UC Santa Barbara (48). The Anteaters of UC Irvine finished third with 83 points and UC Davis solidified the fourth slot with 94 points. Long Beach State recorded 147 points for fifth place and was followed by UC Riverside (155), Cal State Fullerton (182) and Cal State Northridge (227).
Laura Hollander’s record-breaking performance, along with three runners placing in the top 10, guided the Mustangs to a first place finish with 43 points, three points ahead of last year’s champion, UC Davis, who registered three runners in the top five to tally 46 points. UC Santa Barbara secured third place with 75 total points and UC Riverside’s 81 points earned the Highlanders the fourth slot. Long Beach State finished fifth with 107 points and was followed by UC Irvine (177), Cal State Fullerton (196), Cal State Northridge (255), Hawai’i (283) and Pacific (286).
The Mustang trio of Chris Frias, Blake Ahrold and Mitchell Moriarty finished one-two-three at this year’s 8K event. Frias led the way with a time of 24:10.0 while Ahrold crossed the finish line at 24:13.9 and Moriarty posted a 24:14.6 mark. UC Irvine’s Steven Melena finished fourth with a time of 24:16.8 and UC Santa Barbara Gaucho Bryan Guijarro placed fifth after recording a time of 24:22.5.
Hollander ran a top time of 19:12.6, shattering both the course and conference record by forty-five seconds and becoming just the second female athlete to post a sub 20-minute time in the 6K since the championship moved to the new distance in 2003. Finishing in second place for the second straight year was UC Davis’ Sarah Sumpter, who clocked a time of 19:44.4. Teammate Alycia Cridebring followed in third place with a time of 20:13.8. UC Riverside’s Damajeria Dubose crossed the finish line in a time of 20:16.0 to grab the fourth slot and UC Davis’ Katie Fry rounded out the top five with a 20:24.6 mark.
2012 Big West Awards
Big West Men’s Athlete of the Year
Chris Frias, Cal Poly
Big West Men’s Freshman of the Year
Bryan Guijarro, UC Santa Barbara
Big West Women’s Athlete of the Year
Laura Hollander, Cal Poly
Big West Women’s Freshman of the Year
Laura Hollander, Cal Poly
Big West Men’s Coach of the Year
Mark Conover, Cal Poly
Big West Men’s & Women’s Coach of the Year
Mark Conover, Cal Poly