Irvine, CA - The Big West Conference doled out its end of season awards for the 2009 cross country season on Wednesday, and UC Riverside's
Emmanuel Ngula (pictured) was selected as the 2009 Big West Men's Freshman of the Year.
View the complete release.
Ngula was a consistent runner for Head Coach Irv Ray, finishing second on the squad in every race he entered.
The Moreno Valley native recorded an 8k time of 24:33 at the UCR Invitational and followed that up with a personal-best 24:24.3 8k time at the Big West Championships to place ninth, tops among freshmen, while also earning Big West All-Conference accolades.
This is the Highlanders second straight Big West Men's Freshman of the Year award as current sophomore
Chad Hall was the recipient of the 2008 honor.
The Highlanders travel to Eugene, OR on Saturday, Nov. 14 for the NCAA Cross Country Regionals.
2009 Big West Cross Country Awards
Men’s Athlete of the Year - Joe Gatel, Cal Poly
Men’s Freshman of the Year - Emmanuel Ngula, UC Riverside
Men’s Coach of the Year - Mark Conover, Cal Poly
Women’s Athlete of the Year - Sarah Sumpter, UC Davis
Women’s Freshman of the Year - Kayleigh Tyerman, Cal Poly
Women’s Coach of the Year - Pete Dolan, UC Santa Barbara