Cal Poly junior Phillip Reid and UC Santa Barbara senior Lauren Christman were named the Big West Cross Country Men's and Women's Athlete of the Year as the conference announced its major award winners today.
The Mustangs swept the awards on the men's side as freshman Evan Anderson was named the Freshman of the Year, while head coach Mark Conover was honored with the Coach of the Year. On the women's side, Cal Poly's Kimberly Donatelli was named the Freshman of the Year and UC Santa Barbara head coach Pete Dolan garnered Coach of the Year accolades. Reid was the individual champion at the championship meet, leading the Mustangs to the title after finishing the 8K course in 25:45.6. He is the first Cal Poly runner since Sean Ricketts in 2003 to claim the Athlete of the Year award and the fourth overall. Reid ran the fastest 8K time this season for the Mustangs on Sept. 29 at the Bill Dellinger Invitational and has been the top Cal Poly finisher in each race he has competed in this season.
Anderson becomes the second Cal Poly runner in as many years to claim the Freshman of the Year award. He finished fourth overall at the championship meet with a time of 26:11.6, second among Mustang runners. He has been a key part of the Cal Poly run this season, as evidenced by his career-best time of 24:17 at Pre-Nationals. That placed him second in the Cal Poly contingent.
Conover has piloted the Cal Poly program to four-straight Big West titles and has now been named Coach of the Year five times, moving him into second on the all-time Big West men's list. His #19 Cal Poly squad has performed well all season, as seen by a first place finish at the UC Santa Barbara Open, fifth place at the Bill Dellinger Invitational and an eight place showing at Pre-Nationals.
On the women's side, Christman completed the 6K course at the Big West championship meet in a course-record time of 21:07.5 to claim the individual crown. This is not uncharted territory for Christman as she also claimed the 2004 Big West Athlete of the Year award and the individual championship at that season’s meet. She is the third Gaucho harrier in five years to garner Athlete of the Year honors and holds the top 6K time in the Big West this season at 20:28 (set at Pre-Nationals). In addition, she is the first runner to garner two Athlete of the Year awards since Utah State’s Alisa Nicodemus did it in 1992 and 1993.
Donatelli becomes the first Cal Poly runner to be named the Freshman of the Year. The rookie runner finished 19th at the Big West meet, tops among Mustang competitors in the first 6K race of her young career. That continued a strong first season at the collegiate level for Donatelli as she was the top Cal Poly finisher in each race she entered.
Dolan led the Gauchos to one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. His seventh-ranked squad won the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational and finished fourth at Pre-Nationals on its way to its third Big West title in four seasons. Dolan now owns six Coach of the Year honors, second on the all-time women's list and has taken home the honor three of the past four years.
2006 Men’s Athlete of the Year - Phillip Reid, Cal Poly
2006 Men’s Freshman of the Year - Evan Anderson, Cal Poly
2006 Men’s Coach of the Year - Mark Conover, Cal Poly
2006 Women’s Athlete of the Year - Lauren Christman, UC Santa Barbara
2006 Women’s Freshman of the Year - Kimberly Donatelli, Cal Poly
2006 Women’s Coach of the Year - Pete Dolan, UC Santa Barbara