The Lone Star Conference honored twenty student-athletes and two
coaching staffs as league officials announced the annual cross
country postseason honors.
The announcement follows the annual LSC Cross Country
Championships meet, which was held last Saturday in Stephenville,
Texas.
Abilene Christian continued its success at the meet, winning
both the men's and women's titles. ACU's men won the LSC trophy for
the 16th straight year, while the ACU women won their sixth
consecutive title.
All-conference recognition is bestowed upon those runners who
finish among the top 10 individually at the conference meet.
Additional awards were presented for Coach of the Year and
Freshman of the Year in both the men's and women's divisions.
Cameron's David Chirchir was named Men's Freshman of the Year,
while ACU's Derek Hood was Men's Coach of the Year. On the women's
side, Central Oklahoma's Evelyn Berko was Freshman of the Year and
the Angelo State coaching staff of James Reid, Tom Dibbern and Gary
Gabriel was Coach of the Year.
The coaching accolades were selected by a vote of all the LSC
head coaches, while the freshman awards went to the top freshman
finishers at the league meet.
ACU's Nicodemus Naimadu won the men's individual championship to
headline the all-conference list. He was joined on the All-LSC list
by teammates Serge Gasore, Philip Birgen, Julius Nyango and Laurent
Ngirakamaro.
East Central's men, who finished in second place at the
conference meet, had two All-LSC members in Koby Styles and Josh
Stewart. Cameron's Chirchir, Nimrod Celei of Eastern New Mexico and
Thomas Veal of Angelo State also earned All-LSC recognition.
The Wildcats Loice Cheboi won the women's individual
championship, while ACU's Oolha Kryv'Yak and Venessa Whittle joined
her in the top 10. Angelo State's women finished as team runner-up
at the league meet, with two All-LSC individuals, Trista McIntyre
and Rebecca Graupman.
A pair of runners from Southwestern Oklahoma, Rachel Ingram and
Stefanie Jones, plus Niki Williams of Texas A&M-Commerce, Betty
Hernandez of East Central and Berko of UCO also made the women's
list.