Courtesy of the Big Sky Conference
OGDEN, Utah (October 20, 2015) - The Big Sky Conference has selected the final men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week for the 2015 season. Eastern Washington's Sarah Reiter is the Female Athlete of the Week, while Southern Utah claimed its third straight honor on the men's side, this time going to Mike Tate.
Reiter, a junior from Renton, Wash., raced to a 16th-place finish in a stacked field including several ranked teams and All-Americans at the Division I Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 25.9 seconds, helping the Eagles place 13th as a team at the meet in the prestigious red section. It was the second straight meet where Reiter was 16th, as she had the same placing amongst a strong field at the Washington Invitational on October 2. Reiter's leadership has lifted EWU to a USTFCCCA regional ranking of sixth in a talented West Region, a program best for the Eagles.
Reiter is the defending Big Sky Cross Country Champion, as she took the individual title at the 2014 meet with a time of 17:05.2 on the 5K course in Grand Forks, N.D. In outdoor track and field, Reiter has earned a pair of all-conference finishes in the 10,000 meters, taking third in 2014 and second in 2015. This is her second career AOTW honor.
Tate, a junior from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, was also the Big Sky's top finisher at Pre-Nationals, taking 33rd overall with a time of 23:46.8 on the 8K course. He averaged a pace of 4:47 per mile, leading the then-No. 25 ranked Southern Utah men to a 12th-place finish, also in the competitive red section. The SUU men were ranked sixth in the Mountain Region in the latest USTFCCCA poll.
Tate was an all-conference performer in cross country in 2013, taking fifth at that meet. He just missed All-Big Sky honors last season, taking 11th overall. In track and field, Tate took home a pair of bronze medals in 2015, finishing third in the mile indoors and in the 1,500 outdoors. This is Tate's first career XC AOTW honor. Southern Utah finished the year with the last three selections for Big Sky Male AOTW, as Hayden Hawks won the previous two.
Other Women Nominated: Kinsey Gomez - Idaho; Alyssa Snyder - Montana State; Martha Hubbell - North Dakota; Melanie Townsend - Northern Arizona; Erin Thomas - Northern Colorado Amanda Boman - Portland State; Chloe Berlioux - Sacramento State; Ashley Hawks - Southern Utah; Hailey Whetten - Weber State
Other Men Nominated: Stephen Bottoms - Eastern Washington; Nathan Stark - Idaho; Diego Leon - Montana State; Drew Campbell - North Dakota; Cory Glines - Northern Arizona; Alex Cisneros - Portland State; Jacob Huston - Sacramento State
