Cross Country: Mid-Atlantic Honors Cleary Again
November 20, 2008 05:32 PM | General
November 20, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University cross country coach Sean Cleary was named the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and for the second consecutive year, today, announced by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Associations (USTFCCCA).
Cleary led the No. 5 Mountaineers to an automatic bid for nationals for the fifth time in school history by winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Princeton, N.J., on Nov. 15. The NCAA Championship will be held on Monday, Nov. 24, in Terre Haute, Ind. The regional championship was the second NCAA Mid-Atlantic Team Championship for the Mountaineers in school history.
This season, Cleary has coached three all-BIG EAST performers this season. Marie-Louise Asselin was the first BIG EAST women’s cross country individual champion in West Virginia and BIG EAST history at the BIG EAST Championships, where the team finished second. Asselin, Clara Grandt and Keri Bland were all named to the All-BIG EAST Women’s Team. Cleary also had six runners named to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Team, the most ever in school history.
Cleary also saw his team ranked No. 5 in the USTFCCCA Division I Women’s National Poll, released on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The No. 5 ranking matches the Mountaineers’ best mark in school history. WVU also achieved the No. 5 ranking this season on Oct. 21, and Oct. 28.
The Mountaineers were ranked in the top 10 all season by the USTFCCCA. The Mountaineers were No. 6 in the preseason poll, and then fell to No. 9 in the first week of competition. WVU jumped two spots to No. 7 for two consecutive weeks, before earning the No. 5 ranking for the following two weeks. WVU then dropped to No. 6 on Nov. 4 and stayed there last week before moving up to No. 5 in today’s final poll.
WVU’s second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships marks the first back-to-back appearances for the Mountaineers at nationals. WVU has made a total of four previous appearances at nationals: 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007.
