NIPOMO – In her final appearance at the Big West Conference Championship, senior
Sierra Atkins outdistanced the field to claim the individual title and help lead the Aggies to a runner-up finish with 58 points.
Atkins covered the 6k course at the Blacklake Golf Club in a winning time of 19:52.5. The Ags secured the top-3 spots in the race as defending champion
Brianna Weidler was the runner-up at 20:09.8 and
Dani Barrett was third with a time of 20:29.9.
The title run by Atkins marked the third straight season she had placed in the top-5 as she was the runner-up in 2021.
Hope Bergmark placed 20
th at 21:45.6 and
Stormy Wallace was 33
rd with a time of 22:10.4. In her final cross country conference championship,
Chloe Arriaga was 38
th at 22:19.4 and
Madison Kackley was 57
th with a time of 22:57.7.
Kayla Rutz (23:17.3) and
Jocelyn Pacheco (23:19.9) rounded out the Aggies in 64
th and 65
th place, respectively.
In the men's competition the Aggies placed fifth overall and were led by
Ethan Brooks. The sophomore crossed the line in ninth place with a time of 24:16.6.
Austin Vasquez was 19
th overall with a time of 24:38.4 and
Michael Cooper followed in 25
th with a 24:52.3 on the 8k course.
Newcomer
Donavan Cheruiyot placed 32
nd with a time of 25:14.8 and
Chris Coles was 45
th at 25:33.7.
Isaiah Galindo (53
rd, 25:49.5),
Nick Herrmann (65
th, 26:39) and
Zachary Graeber (66
th, 26:39) closed out the men's competition for the Aggies.
The Aggies will now prepare for the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento. The regionals will take place at Haggin Oaks Golf Course on November 10
th .