UIC's Ehrhardt and Milwaukee's Paulson Named #HLXC Athletes of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS --  UIC senior Tess Ehrhardt and Milwaukee senior Marcus Paulson were named the Horizon League Cross Country Athletes of the Year, in voting of the League’s coaches.

Ehrhardt won her second-consecutive Horizon League individual title and Athlete of the Year accolade after crossing the finish line in first place with a 6K time of 21:04. The senior led the pack throughout the race and completed the course 12-seconds in front of the field. Ehrhardt collected First Team All-League honors while teammate Lauren Lindholm (ninth-place) was on the Second Team.

Paulson became the first Milwaukee runner to win an individual Horizon League title in nearly 20 years and steered the Panthers to a runner-up team finish. The senior led from start to finish, hitting the tape with an 8K time of 24:39. Caleb Abfall joined Paulson on the First Team All-League with his sixth-place finish while fellow teammates Adam Schueller (11th-place) and Tony Sustachek (12th-place) earned Second Team honors.

Youngstown State head coach Brian Gorby and Detroit head coach Guy Murray were voted Coach of the Year, respectively.

Gorby led the Penguins’ women’s squad to back-to-back Horizon League Championships piloted by the performances of First Team All-League members Anna Pompeo (second-place) and Michelle Klim (seventh-place). Youngstown State’s McKinsie Klim also picked up All-League honors with her 13th-place finish.

Murray claimed his second-consecutive men’s Horizon League title behind the performances of First Team All-League finishers Colin Creagh (runner-up) and Ben Kendell (fifth-place, Freshman of the Year). The Titans also placed Ryan Leahy (13th-place) and Derek Gielarowski (14th-place) on the Second Team.

The remainder of the women’s First Team All-League was formed by Valparaiso’s Jessica Richardson (third-place) and Elizabeth Bloy (fifth-place), Milwaukee’s Leah Holmes (fourth-place) and Green Bay’s Sarah Mauel (sixth-place)

Cleveland State’s Ashlyn Woods (eighth-place), Sydnie Fetherolf (10th-place, Freshman of the Year), Oakland’s Karli Keur (11th-place) and Ashley Burr (12th-place), and the Panthers’ Annette Lemanski (14th-place) rounded out the Second Team All-League.

The men’s First Team also included Youngstown State’s Austin McLean (third-place), UIC’s Kyle Hauser (fourth-place) and Oakland’s Nathan Ziolko (seventh-place).

The Flames’ Alex Bashqawi (eighth-place), Golden Grizzlies’s Jacob Bowman (ninth-place) and Youngstown State’s Nick Gliha (10th-place) all took home Second Team honors.

The next race for the Horizon League cross country teams will be at either the Great Lakes Region Meet in Madison, Wis. or the Midwest Region Meet in Peoria, Ill. on Friday, November 14th.