PORTLAND, Ore. - Michael Friess of Alaska Anchorage has been voted the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Team and Women’s Team Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Friess swept the two Coach of the Year awards for the third year in a row. His women’s team award was his fourth straight and his seventh since 2003. He won the GNAC Men’s Team Coach of the Year award for the sixth time. He was also the PacWest Coach of the Year in 1997, giving him a total of 14 Coach of the Year awards overall.
In addition to his 14 cross country awards, he has also won two track and field awards winning the GNAC Men’s Coach of the Year prize in 2008 and 2009.
Friess led both his teams to GNAC titles this fall and runner-up finishes in the NCAA Division II West Regional meet. The conference title was the sixth GNAC title for the Seawolf men who also finished first in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011 and the fourth for the UAA women who also won each of the previous three seasons.
Both UAA teams will travel to Joplin, Mo., next Saturday (Nov. 17) to compete in the NCAA Division II national meet. The UAA women will take a No. 6 national rank into the meet, while the Seawolf men will take a No. 7 rank.
Also competing in the national meet will be Western Washington's men and Seattle Pacific's women. The Viking men are ranked 10th in the latest poll, while the Seattle Pacific women are ranked 26th.
Chelimo, Tanui Earn USTFCCCA Region Athlete of the Year Awards
Micah Chelimo and Susan Tanui have been named the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association West Region Athletes of the Year.
UAA athletes have won the men’s award in each of the past four years. Chelimo (Sr., Kapkoi, Kenya) was also the 2011 winner, while Marko Cheseto won the award in both 2009 and 2010.
Tanui (Jr., Eldoret, Kenya) became the second UAA athlete to win the women’s award. Ruth Keino was the recipient last season.
Chelimo and Tanui finished first last Saturday in the NCAA Division II West Regional championships in Hawaii. Chelimo covered the men’s 10,000-meter event in a winning time of 31:58, while Keino won the women’s 6,000-meter event in a time of 21:19.
Earlier both athletes also finished first in the GNAC championship meet. Chelimo was clocked in an 8,000-meter time of 24:49.53, while Tanui ran a 6,000-meter time of 20:37.29.
