Alaska News

GNAC names Friess coach of the year in cross country

UAA cross-country coach Michael Friess swept the coaching awards in the Great Northwest Conference for the third straight year Thursday.

He was named men's coach of the year and women's coach of the year in the aftermath of last week's West Region championships in Hawaii, where UAA placed second in both the men's and women's team standings and produced both individual champions.

Friess has won GNAC coaching honors on 13 occasions in his 23 seasons. The conference has picked him as the top women's coach seven times and the top men's coach six times.

Back when the Seawolves competed in the Pac West, Friess won that conference's coach of the year award in 1997.

Friess led the Seawolves to a sweep of the GNAC team titles last month. At last week's region meet, both teams qualified for the NCAA Division II national championships Nov. 3 in Joplin, Mo.

Also on Thursday, the GNAC honored eight UAA runners for their academic achievements.

Three GNAC runners posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages, including two Seawolves -- Bryn Haebe and Christi Schmitz.

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Micah Chelimo, the West Region men's champion, and Miriam Kipng-eno, the West Region women's runnerup, both made the team for a third straight season, something accomplished by 10 runners in the entire conference.

Also honored were Alfred Kangogo, Katie Krehlik, Dylan Anthony and Kevin Rooke. In all, 31 men and 38 women were honored by the conference for posting GPAs of 3.2 or better.

Anchorage Daily News

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