SEATTLE – The Utah Valley University men's and women's cross country teams both posted runner-up finishes at the 2020-21 WAC Cross Country Championship on Saturday morning at Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle and UVU's Maddie Bench Empey and Britain Reynolds both punched their tickets to compete at the 2020-21 NCAA Cross Country Championships. 
 
Led by top-five individual finishes from Bench Empey and Maggie Zwahlen, the UVU women placed second with 40 total points, while the Utah Valley men's squad finished second with 43 points behind top-five finishes from Reynolds and Geofrey Kemboi.
 
California Baptist won both the men's and women's races with respective tallies of 23 and 26 points.  
 
By being the top individual finisher on a postseason-eligible team, both Bench Empey and Reynolds officially qualified for the NCAA Championships on Saturday. Bench Empey was the women's runner-up behind CBU's Anna Mate, but with California Baptist still transitioning from NCAA Division II to Division I competition, Bench Empey has earned the WAC's automatic individual bid on the women's side. Reynolds punched his ticket to nationals for UVU by being the men's top individual finisher on a postseason-eligible team by taking third behind CBU's Giedrius Valincius and Luis Chavez. Bench Empey will be UVU's first female athlete to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in program history, while Reynolds will be Utah Valley's third on the men's side as Joshua McCabe competed at the NCAA Championships in both 2010 and 2012 and Tyson Lambert took part at nationals in 2017. 
 
Saturday's meet marked just the second time since joining the WAC that the Wolverines didn't win at least one of the WAC Cross Country Championship races, as the UVU men had brought home five of the past seven WAC cross country titles entering Saturday, and the women's squad previously won WAC titles in 2015 and 2016. It also marked the third straight runner-up conference finish for the Wolverine women and third runner-up finish for the UVU men since joining the WAC prior to the 2013 season.
 
"The meet went really well, and I'm pleased with how both of our teams performed. Both our men and women came out and ran well and truly competed," head UVU coach Scott Houle said. "We had some pretty good individual performances and I'm thrilled that both Maddie Bench Empey and Britain Reynolds have qualified to represent Utah Valley University at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
 
"Comparing this year to last year, we made tremendous strides on the women's side and I'm pleased with how well our team ran here today against CBU. On the men's side, we lost a few of our top runners from last year's team, so I'm happy with how our men's team was able to finish today (by taking second). I'm really excited with both of our teams and I'm thrilled that we don't lose anyone next year and that we will get everyone back."
 
Bench Empey paced the UVU women for the third consecutive meet on the season by earning a second-place individual finish with a blazing 6K time of 21:05.50. Zwahlen was next by placing fourth with a time of 21:21.90. By finishing in the top-seven, both Bench Empey and Zwahlen earned first team All-WAC honors.
 
Mazzie Melaney Preston also finished in the top-10 for the Wolverine women by crossing the finish line in eighth place (21:44.90), while Hannah Branch followed with a 12th-place finish (21:56.20) to help both Melaney Preston and Branch earn second team All-WAC honors. 
 
Taylor Viertel, Skye Jeppson and Kate Richardson all also ran well by placing 15th (22:24.40), 16th (22:30.30), and 18th (22:34.60), respectively.  
 
By placing second, the UVU women finished ahead of New Mexico State (77), Grand Canyon (119), UT Rio Grande Valley (134) and in-state foe Dixie State (149).
 
On the men's side, Reynolds led the way for the Wolverines by placing third individually with an 8K time of 24:41.40. Kemboi was next by posting a fifth-place finish with a time of 24:46.90, as both Reynolds and Kemboi earned first team All-WAC recognition. 
 
Hawk Call too finished in the top-10 for the UVU men by placing eighth with a time of 24:57.50, while Joshua Peters was next by placing 14th (25:19.20). Both Call and Peters received second team All-WAC honors for finishing in the top-14. 
 
Kale Sharp, Jackson Pratt and Talon Rodriguez also ran well for the UVU men by posting respective 15th (25:19.70), 16th (25:20.00) and 22nd place (25:36.40) finishes. 
 
With the second-place finish, the Wolverine men also finished ahead of GCU (92), UTRGV (126), Dixie State (147), NM State (169), Tarleton (182) and host Seattle U (196). 
 
The Wolverines will next take part at the FSU Last Chance XC Invitational on Friday, March 5 in Tallahassee, Florida. The NCAA Cross Country Championships will then follow on Monday, March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. With no qualifying regional meet this season (NCAA Mountain Regional), the UVU men's and women's squads await a possible at-large selection to the NCAA Championships that will be announced in the coming days.
 
TEAM RESULTS
Women
1. California Baptist – 26
2. Utah Valley – 40
3. New Mexico State – 77
4. Grand Canyon – 119
5. UTRGV – 134
6. Dixie State – 149
 
Men
1. California Baptist – 23
2. Utah Valley – 43
3. Grand Canyon – 92
4. UTRGV – 126
5. Dixie State – 147
6. New Mexico State – 169
7. Tarleton – 182
8. Seattle U – 196
 
AWARDS 
 

Women
Team Winner	California Baptist - 26 Points
Individual Winner	Ana Mate, CBU - 20:53.20
Athlete of the Year	Anna Mate, California Baptist
Freshman of the Year	Greta Karinauskaite, California Baptist
Coach of the Year	Adam Tribble, California Baptist
First Team All-WAC	Anna Mate, California Baptist Maddie Bench Empey, Utah Valley Greta Karinauskaite, California Baptist Maggie Zwahlen, Utah Valley Corinne Hanson, NM State Emilie Renaud, California Baptist Emilia Mikszuta, California Baptist
Second Team All-WAC	Mazzie Melaney, Utah Valley Cynthia Martin, California Baptist Daan Haven, California Baptist Emily Stutesman, NM State Hannah Branch, Utah Valley Emily Harris, Seattle U Madison Flippence, Dixie State

 

Men
Team Winner	California Baptist - 23 Points
Individual Winner	Giedrius Valincius, CBU - 24:28.40
Athlete of the Year	Giedrius Valincius, California Bapist
Freshman of the Year	Joseph Skoog, Grand Canyon
Coach of the Year	Adam Tribble, California Baptist
First Team All-WAC	Giedrius Valincius, California Baptist Luis Chavez, California Baptist Britain Reynolds, Utah Valley Florian LePallec, California Baptist Geofrey Kemboi, Utah Valley Joseph Skoog, Grand Canyon Cameron Hylton, California Baptist
Second Team All-WAC	Hawk Call, Utah Valley Rikus Van Niekerk, California Baptist Kevin Baez, Tarleton Zlatko Kozuhar, California Baptist McMarshall Hartzenberg, California Baptist Roman Zozulya, California Baptist Joshua Peters, Utah Valley