IRVINE, Calif. – PacWest teams competed in several different cross country events on Friday and Saturday and PacWest Runners of the Week Sammy Bockoven and Rabah Houali both finished in the top three at their respective races.
 
Awards for the week of Sept. 9-15
 
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Sammy Bockoven, Azusa Pacific
GS – Hudson, Ohio/Villanova
Bockoven took third place at the Cougar Challenge hosted by Cal State San Marcos. She finished within 10 seconds of first place with a time of 21:17.0 on the 6K course at Walnut Grove Park. Azusa Pacific finished the event in fifth place as a team.
 
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Yorkabel Gebrehiwot, Fresno Pacific
Fr. – Fresno, Calif./Hoover HS/Biology
Gebrehiwot took 94th place out of 162 runners at the UC Riverside Invitational, which included primarily NCAA Division I runners. The freshman finished the 6K course with a time of 22:46.37. The Sunbirds took 12th out of 19 schools with the top result of an NCAA Division II program.
 
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Rabah Houali, Academy of Art
Sr. – Lorraine, France/Universite de Lorraine/Communications & Media Technologies
Houali took third place out of 80 runners at the Kim Duyst Twilight on Saturday to lead Academy of Art to a third-place team finish. The sophomore finished the 8K race in 24:46.3 finishing just six seconds behind first place with an average mile time of 4:59.
 
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Jona Bodirsky, Hawai`i Pacific
Fr. – Muhlhausen, Germany/Leibniz Gymnasium/Electrical Engineering
Bodirsky took 24th place out of 53 runners at the Cougar Challenge to earn his third-consecutive Freshman of the Week award. He finished the race in 25:27.8 on the 8K course. Hawai`i Pacific finished in fifth place out of six teams.