Women’s Cross Country Honored with Various All-SCIAC Awards

It was officially announced that the University of Redlands women's cross country team received multiple honors among the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (SCIAC) postseason awards. As determined by their top-10 finishes at the SCIAC Championships on Oct. 31, senior Lauren Roberts (Portland, OR), freshman Etta Eckerstrom (Lake Forest, IL), and junior Jessika Snincsak (Rancho Cucamonga) all landed on the All-SCIAC First Team. Roberts took second at the meet with a time of 22:49.48, while Eckerstrom and Snincsak joined forces as a dynamic duo for the Bulldogs, completing the race in 23:49.03 for seventh place and 23:50.28 for eighth place, respectively. Furthermore, the head coaches tabbed Roberts as a co-recipient of the Celia Peterson Award, which recognizes sincerity of purpose in academic pursuits, sportsmanship, determination, leadership, and athletic success. Roberts owns a cumulative GPA of 3.94 and looks forward to completing her degree in Sociology later this spring. She finished second at the SCIAC Multi-Dual by posting the fastest 6K time in school history. As the only senior among the youthful roster, Roberts has played a huge leadership role while helping to guide the Bulldogs to a breakout season. She shared this honor with Molly Cole of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. Finally, Eckerstrom was named the SCIAC's Newcomer of the Year after she posted the fastest time among the first-year competitors during the conference championships. Overall, the Redlands women enjoyed a solid conference season, which culminated in a strong second-place showing for the program's highest finish since 2007, when the Bulldogs tied for second in the final standings. As a result, Head Coach Mike Schmidt, Assistant Coach Brit March, and Assistant Coach Richard Nakaoka received the SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year award.