Northeastern's Jenkins Selected As CAA Men's Cross Country Athlete Of The Year
RICHMOND, Va. (December 8, 2011) - Northeastern sophomore Eric
Jenkins (Portsmouth, N.H.), who was the only CAA runner to earn a berth in
the NCAA Cross Country Championship, was selected as the 2011 CAA men's cross
country Athlete of the Year in voting by the league's head coaches.
William and Mary redshirt freshman Rad Gunzenhauser (Pittsburgh,
Pa.) was chosen as the CAA men's cross country Rookie of the Year and Tribe
head coach Steve Walsh was named CAA Coach of the Year for the second
straight season.
Jenkins is the first Northeastern runner to receive CAA
Athlete of the Year honors. The sophomore was chosen as the Most Outstanding
Performer at the CAA Cross Country Championship after capturing the individual
title with a season-best time of 24:46 over the 8K course. He went on to earn
USTFCCCA All-Northeast Region honors after placing 11th out of 227
runners at the NCAA Northeast Regional with a 10K time of 31:36.9. Jenkins
received a berth in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, where he finished 67th
in a field of 252 runners with a time of 30:31.5. He was the first Northeastern
runner to compete at the NCAA Championship since 1993.
Gunzenhauser earned All-CAA honors in 2011 after placing
fifth at the CAA Cross Country Championship with a time of 25:17 on the 8K
course. Gunzenhauser was the top-placing newcomer in the event and his effort
helped lead William & Mary to the conference title. He also finished 126th
at the NCAA Southeast Regional with a 10K time of 33:02. Gunzenhauser was also
W&M's third-place runner at the competitive Paul Short Invitational as the
Tribe placed 13th out of 45 teams.
Walsh repeated as CAA Coach of the Year in just his second
season as head coach at William and Mary. He guided the Tribe to their 12th
consecutive conference title after having four of the top six individual
finishers. W&M went on to place third at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
The conference also recognized its 2011 All-CAA men's cross
country team, which is made up of the top 12 finishers from the CAA
Championship.
2011 ALL-CAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
TEAM
Name, School, Class, Hometown
Philip Blankenship, George
Mason, Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.
Tom Burke, William &
Mary, Sr., Edina, Minn.
Michael Conway, George
Mason, So., West Hartford, Conn.
Brian Doyle,
Northeastern, So., East Greenwich, R.I.
Zach Gates, William &
Mary, Jr., Fishers, Ind.
Rad Gunzenhauser, William &
Mary, Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Eric Jenkins,
Northeastern, So., Portsmouth, N.H.
Tyler Jones, William &
Mary, Jr., Chalfont, Pa.
Alex McGrath, William &
Mary, Jr., Marlborough, N.H.
Valentin Poncelet, Georgia
State, So., Lillois, Belgium
Chris Tyson, William &
Mary, Jr., Arlington, Va.
Alex Zyryanov, George
Mason, Jr., Weyers Cave, Va.
2011 CAA Athlete of the Year:
Eric Jenkins, Northeastern
2011 CAA Rookie of the Year: Rad
Gunzenhauser, William and Mary
2011 CAA Coach of the Year: Steve Walsh, William and Mary