Ritter Named Men's Athlete of the Year, Three Others Earn Big West XC Praise
11/4/2022 12:10:00 PM | Cross Country
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After sweeping The Big West titles for the sixth time in program history, the Cal Poly cross country program collected plenty of the conference's top honors when the awards were announced Friday afternoon.
For a record third time, graduate student Jake Ritter was crowned Big West Men's Athlete of the Year, while Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy was named Men's Coach of the Year.
On the women's side, Tatiana Cornejo earned Freshman of the Year honors and head women's cross country coach Michelle Chewens grabbed Co-Coach of the Year praise.
Overall, the Mustangs claimed four of the six major awards from The Big West, their most since 2019.
Ritter made history at The Big West Championships last Saturday at UC Riverside's Ag/Ops Course, becoming the first athlete in conference history to claim three Big West individual cross country titles (2018, 2019 and 2022).
Ritter also ran a Big West meet record time of 23:27.4 to help the Cal Poly men raise the conference trophy for the third time during his career. He is the fourth Mustang in program history to claim multiple Big West Men's Athlete of the Year awards.
In his first year leading the program, Vanhoy, who helped the Ole Miss men's and women's cross country teams claim 14 NCAA Championship berths across nine seasons, guided the Mustang men to their first Big West title since 2019 and 18th overall.
Cal Poly dominated its conference foes, finishing with 22 team points — the best mark by the men's Big West champion since 2016. The Mustangs swept the top three places and five athletes finished inside the top 10 to earn All-Big West honors.
Cornejo is Cal Poly's first Big West Women's Freshman of the Year award recipient since Sierra Brill in 2017, and the program's 10th overall.
Cornejo was the third Mustang to cross the finish line at The Big West Championships, capturing 14th with a 6K time of 20:41.3. Earlier this season at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational, Cornejo placed 13th in the Gold race.
After being overlooked entering the conference meet, Chewens was able to lead the Cal Poly women to their first Big West title since 2018 and eighth in program history in her first season at the helm.
The Mustangs (63 points) finished strong in the last 1K to edge out UC Irvine (64) by 1 point to claim the conference hardware. It was the closest finish in the history of The Big West Championships. Chewens shared Women's Coach of the Year honors with UC Irvine's Casey Kear.
Cal Poly heads to University Place, Wash., next Friday, Nov. 11, for the NCAA West Regionals at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
For a record third time, graduate student Jake Ritter was crowned Big West Men's Athlete of the Year, while Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy was named Men's Coach of the Year.
On the women's side, Tatiana Cornejo earned Freshman of the Year honors and head women's cross country coach Michelle Chewens grabbed Co-Coach of the Year praise.
Overall, the Mustangs claimed four of the six major awards from The Big West, their most since 2019.
Ritter made history at The Big West Championships last Saturday at UC Riverside's Ag/Ops Course, becoming the first athlete in conference history to claim three Big West individual cross country titles (2018, 2019 and 2022).
Ritter also ran a Big West meet record time of 23:27.4 to help the Cal Poly men raise the conference trophy for the third time during his career. He is the fourth Mustang in program history to claim multiple Big West Men's Athlete of the Year awards.
In his first year leading the program, Vanhoy, who helped the Ole Miss men's and women's cross country teams claim 14 NCAA Championship berths across nine seasons, guided the Mustang men to their first Big West title since 2019 and 18th overall.
Cal Poly dominated its conference foes, finishing with 22 team points — the best mark by the men's Big West champion since 2016. The Mustangs swept the top three places and five athletes finished inside the top 10 to earn All-Big West honors.
Cornejo is Cal Poly's first Big West Women's Freshman of the Year award recipient since Sierra Brill in 2017, and the program's 10th overall.
Cornejo was the third Mustang to cross the finish line at The Big West Championships, capturing 14th with a 6K time of 20:41.3. Earlier this season at Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational, Cornejo placed 13th in the Gold race.
After being overlooked entering the conference meet, Chewens was able to lead the Cal Poly women to their first Big West title since 2018 and eighth in program history in her first season at the helm.
The Mustangs (63 points) finished strong in the last 1K to edge out UC Irvine (64) by 1 point to claim the conference hardware. It was the closest finish in the history of The Big West Championships. Chewens shared Women's Coach of the Year honors with UC Irvine's Casey Kear.
Cal Poly heads to University Place, Wash., next Friday, Nov. 11, for the NCAA West Regionals at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
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