Cal Poly’s success in men’s cross country doesn’t just extend to Big West championships. Cross country runner Chris Frias was named the Big West Conference Men’s Freshman of the Year, marking the fourth time in six seasons a Cal Poly runner has won the award.
The redshirt freshman finished 12th place at the Big West Cross Country Championships at the UC Riverside Agriculture Course on Saturday. He was the second Mustang to finish — second to senior Carl Dargitz. He ran a time of 24:42 on the eight-kilometer course.
Frias also finished 96th at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 16. He helped the Mustangs finish 16th with a time of 24:59. At the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 25, he helped the Mustangs finish eighth with a time of 25:15.
UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara racked up the most awards. UC Davis’ Jon Peterson won the Men’s Athlete of the Year award and his coach Drew Wartenburg won the Men’s Coach of the Year award.
UC Santa Barbara’s Amanda Moreno won the Women’s Athlete of the Year award and her coach Pete Dolan won the Women’s Coach of the Year award.
The only other award went to UC Irvine freshmen Colleen Lillig. She was named the Women’s Freshman of the Year.