RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Led by top-six individual finishes from Caila Odekirk, Everlyn Kemboi and Mazzie Melaney Preston, the Utah Valley University women's cross country team won the WAC Cross Country Championship on Saturday at UC Riverside's Ag Ops Course. The UVU men's team also ran well on the day by posting a runner-up finish thanks to sixth, seventh and eighth-place individual finishes from Geofrey Kemboi, Habtamu Cheney and Britain Reynolds. 
 
"It was a great day today. I'm super proud of both of our men's and women's teams and the way that they competed," head UVU coach Scott Houle said. "Our men's team didn't win—which is a bummer—but they posted the fastest time that we've ever had here on this course, and we are ecstatic with how fast they ran."
 
The Wolverine women won the 2021 WAC Cross Country Championship with a total of 34 points to beat the host and pre-championship favorite California Baptist Lancers by seven points (41). The freshman Odekirk led the way by taking third overall in the women's 6K with a blazing time of 20:12.5. Junior transfer Everlyn Kemboi finished right behind her to place fourth (20:18.0), followed by fellow junior Melaney Preston in sixth place (20:29.0). Senior Hannah Branch also finished in the top-10 for the Wolverines by taking 10th with a time of 20:46.4, while sophomore Zoe Hales rounded out UVU's scorers by placing 11th (20:49.9).  
 
"Our women ran a great race today. Three years ago, CBU scored a perfect score on us, and I'm thrilled that we were about to win it here with pretty much the same team this time around," Houle added. "We brought a couple of different competitors for our women's team this year and they ended up being a couple of our top finishers. I'm really proud of Caila Odekirk for leading our team as a young freshman and today was a big step for her as well as for our team. We weren't favored by pretty much anyone to win this race, but our girls believed that they could do it and they ran a great race to beat what should be a top-25 team in CBU.
 
"All-in-all it was a great performance and I'm thrilled that our women were able to win it and our men were able to take second." 
 
This year marked the third time since joining the WAC that the Wolverine women have brought home a Western Athletic Conference Championship and the first since 2016. They had previously earned a runner-up finish in each of the past four seasons. 
 
Coach Houle was recognized as the WAC Women's Coach of the Year for leading his UVU women's squad to their third WAC Cross Country Championship. It marks the eighth time that Coach Houle has been honored as a WAC Cross Country Coach of the Year, as he has also earned the honor five times on the men's side. 
 
A total of four Wolverine women also earned first team All-WAC honors in Odekirk, Everlyn Kemboi, Melaney Preston and Branch for finishing in the top 10, while four more UVU women received second team All-WAC recognition for placing in the top-20 in Hales, Maddie Bench Empey (who placed 18th, 21:06.7), Maggie Zwahlen (finished 19th, 21:07.8) and Taylor Viertel (20th, 21:12.4). 
 
On the men's side, CBU scored a perfect score with 15 points to win the race, but the UVU men ran strong to claim second place with 42 points. Geofrey Kemboi led the way by taking sixth overall in the men's 8K championship race with an impressive time of 23:58.9. Cheney finished right behind him to take seventh (23:59.4), while Reynolds placed eighth with a time of 23:59.9. Freshman Max Mahon also posted a top-10 finish for the UVU men by taking 10th (24:15.9), while Austin Hone rounded out UVU's scorers by claiming 11th (24:18.5). Hawk Call (24:46.3) and Joshua Peters (24:46.6) too ran well by placing in the top 25 with respective 24th and 25th-place finishes. 
 
By finishing 10th, the true freshman Mahon was named the WAC Men's Freshman of the Year as he was the top finishing freshman from any team. Four Wolverine men too earned first team All-WAC honors by finishing in the top 10 in Geofrey Kemboi, Cheney, Reynolds, and Mahon. While one more claimed second team All-WAC accolades on the men's side in the sophomore Hone. 
 
This year marked the fourth time that the UVU men have earned a runner-up finish and the second straight at the WAC XC Championships. The Wolverine men have also claimed an impressive tally of five WAC titles, as the team has either finished first or second since joining the league prior to the 2013 season.
 
Behind CBU and UVU on the men's side, Grand Canyon was next by taking third with 110 points, while Lamar finished fourth with 139, Dixie State fifth with 157, and Sam Houston sixth with 178. Abilene Christian placed seventh (191), followed by New Mexico State in eighth (207), Stephen F. Austin ninth (226), UT Rio Grande Valley 10th (247), Tarleton 11th (305), Seattle U 12th (319), and Chicago State 13th (375). 
 
Behind the Wolverines and Lancers in the women's race, Abilene Christian took third with 62 points, NM State fourth with 96, Dixie State fifth with 154, and Seattle U sixth with 192. GCU was next in seventh with 223, while Stephen F. Austin took eighth (225), Sam Houston ninth (233), Lamar 10th (274), UTRGV 11th (277), Tarleton 12th (327), and Chicago State 13th (425). 
 
The UVU men's and women's teams will now prepare for the NCAA Mountain Region Championship that will be held Friday, Nov. 12 at Timpanogos Golf Club in Provo. There, the Wolverines will look to earn their spots to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships which will follow on Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida. 
 

Head Coach Scott Houle - WAC Women's Coach of the Year 


Max Mahon - WAC Men's Freshman of the Year

WAC WOMEN'S AWARDS
Athlete of the Year: Irene Rono, Abilene Christian
Freshman of the Year: Greta Karinauskaite, California Baptist
Coach of the Year: Scott Houle, Utah Valley
 
First Team All-WAC
Irene Rono, Abilene Christian
Greta Karinauskaite, California Baptist
Caila Odekirk, Utah Valley
Everlyn Kemboi, Utah Valley
Yasna Petrova, California Baptist
Mazzie Melaney Preston, Utah Valley
Liza Hazuchova, California Baptist
Prudence Kiyeng, Abilene Christian
Briahna Gerlach, Abilene Christian
Hannah Branch, Utah Valley
 
Second Team All-WAC
Zoe Hales, Utah Valley
Richelle Sandin, NM State
Anneken Viljoen, California Baptist
Anna Mate, California Baptist
Madison Flippence, Dixie State
Maggie Gibbs, NM State
Grace McLaughlin, Dixie State
Maddie Bench Empey, Utah Valley
Maggie Zwahlen, Utah Valley
Taylor Viertel, Utah Valley
 
WAC MEN'S AWARDS
Athlete of the Year: Florian Le Pallec, California Baptist
Freshman of the Year: Max Mahon, Utah Valley
Coach of the Year: Adam Tribble, California Baptist
 
First Team All-WAC
Florian Le Pallec, California Baptist
Ivo Balabanov, California Baptist
Giedrius Valincius, California Baptist
Arturs Medveds, California Baptist
Said Mechaal, California Baptist
Geofrey Kemboi, Utah Valley
Habtamu Cheney, Utah Valley
Britain Reynolds, Utah Valley
Kevin Kirk, Dixie State
Max Mahon, Utah Valley
 
Second Team All-WAC
Austin Hone, Utah Valley 
George Wheeler, Lamar
Rikus Van Niekerk, California Baptist
Abraham Chirchir, UT Rio Grande Valley
Blake Bennett, Grand Canyon
Christian Rivera, Sam Houston
Matias Reynaga, California Baptist
Tyler Tickner, California Baptist
Cannon Angotti, Grand Canyon
Eli Peveto, Lamar