Women's Cross Country 10/29/2011 2:51:00 PM Jeff Cluff, Coordinator of Media Relations

WXC: Rachel Young earns PacWest Individual Crown; Cal Baptist win Hawaiian Airlines XC title

RESULTS

GOODYEAR, AZ – California Baptist captured its first Pacific West Conference title in school history by claiming the 2011 Hawaiian Airlines PacWest Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Goodyear, AZ.

Individually, Dixie State junior Rachel Young (Holliday, UT/Olympus) – who didn't run cross country in high school and who competed in only one collegiate race prior to the 2011 season – stormed to victory with a time of 17:52.3 on the 5K course that wound through Estrella Mountain Regional Park.

In addition to winning the race, Young was named All-PacWest First Team for finishing in the Top 7 of the championship event, and she was selected by the league's coaches in a post-race vote as the PacWest Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year.

The Top 7 runners to cross the finish line during the PacWest Championship are named All-PacWest First Team. Runners finishing 8-14 are named to the Second Team.

The Lancers claimed the team victory by placing its first five runners in the Top 8 and six of its entries in the Top 10 – with all six runners earning All-PacWest accolades.

California Baptist recorded 30 points, followed by runner-up BYU-Hawaii with 48, and third-place Grand Canyon with 101. Hawai'i Pacific (117), Dixie State (141), Chaminade (173) and Academy of Art (180) finished fourth through seventh, respectively, while Hawai'i Hilo (203) edged Dominican (203) on a tie-breaker for eighth place. Notre Dame de Namur (263) wound up 10th.

CBU saw Ashlee Cervantes, Lynnea Sjoerdsma, Malaysia Alexander, Jacquie Lutz and Bethany Bilton place fourth through eighth respectively. Cervantes (18:30.7), Sjoerdsma (18:44.7), Alexander (18:48.5) and Lutz (19:02.0) were named to the First Team, while Bilton (19:03.1) earned Second Team honors. Naomi Van Setten posted a time of 19:09.6 to finish 10th and also earn Second Team honors for the Lancers.

Cervantes was named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year for her outstanding race. The annual award is presented to a sophomore, junior or senior competing in the PacWest for the first time who posts the best finish at the conference championship.

Bilton captured the PacWest Freshman of the Year award for recording the highest finish at the PacWest Championship among all rookie runners.

BYU-Hawaii head coach Norman Kaluhiokalani was named the PacWest Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year in voting by the head coaches. He saw four of his runners – Lacey Krout, Katherine Buxton, Kassondra McGonegal and Kelsey Royer earn All-PacWest honors for their performance on Saturday morning.

Krout (18:18.2) and Buxton (18:25.1) took First Team honors after finishing second and third, respectively, while McGonegal (19:17.3) and Royer (19:19.6) were 12th and 14th, respectively, and claimed Second Team awards.

Academy of Art runner Kristen Sanzari finished ninth with a time of 19:06.1 to pick up a Second Team certificate, and Chaminade's Emily Ochsner also grabbed Second Team accolades for taking 11th in a mark if 19:15.0. Grand Canyon's Megan Young was a Second Team choice after finishing 13th overall in a time of 19:18.8.

2011 PacWest Women's XC Awards

PacWest Champion: California Baptist
PacWest Individual Champion: Rachel Young (Holliday, UT/Olympus), Dixie State
PacWest Runner of the Year: Rachel Young (Holliday, UT/Olympus), Dixie State
PacWest Newcomer of the Year: Ashlee Cervantes, California Baptist
PacWest Freshman of the Year: Bethany Bilton, California Baptist
PacWest Coach of the Year: Norman Kaluhiokalani, BYU-Hawaii

All-PacWest First Team (1-7)
Rachel Young (Holliday, UT/Olympus), Dixie State
Lacey Krout, BYU-Hawaii
Katherine Buxton, BYU-Hawaii
Ashlee Cervantes, California Baptist
Lynnea Sjoerdsma, California Baptist
Malaysia Alexander, California Baptist
Jacquie Lutz, California Baptist

All PacWest Second Team (8-14)
Bethany Bilton, California Baptist
Kristen Sanzari, Academy of Art
Naomi Van Setten, California Baptist
Emily Ochsner, Chaminade
Kassondra McGonegal, BYU-Hawaii
Megan Young, Grand Canyon
Kelsey Royer, BYU-Hawaii

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