BATON ROUGE – McNeese cross country standouts Gideon Cheplak and Aaron Gilliam were named to the LSWA All-Louisiana Track and Field Team, the organization announced Tuesday.
Omer El-Fadl was named Men's Freshman of the Year. Jacob Kipkogei was named Men's New Comer of the Year, and Head Coach Brandon Gilroy was named Men's Coach of the Year for the second time in his coaching career. He was won the award two additional times on the women's side.
Gilroy, who earned his fourth overall LSWA Coach of the Year honor and first on the men's side since 2010, led McNeese to the Southland Conference Championship and a seventh-place finish at the NCAA South Central Region meet. The former Cowboy runner guided his team to a No. 7 ranking in the USTFCCCA South Central Region.
The Pokes claimed three specialty awards, just behind LSU (4).
Gideon Cheplak, the reigning SLC Newcomer of the Year, finished third overall to lead the Cowboys in the 8-kilometer race with a time of 24:38.66 at the conference championships. He also led the Cowboys at the 2021 NCAA South Central Region Cross Country Meet, garnering All-Region honors with a 23rd place individual finish.
Aaron Gillman placed 6th at the SLC Championship 4.97M with a PR of 24:56.8 and he placed 25th at the Arturo Barrios Invitational 8K with a PR of 24:09.5
Omer El-Fadl had a very impressive freshman campaign, he placed 88th in the South Central Region Cross Country Championships with a 10k of 33:29.5, El-Fadl placed 16th in the SLC Conference Championships with a 4.97M PR of 25:49.6, he also placed 80th in the Arturo Barrios Invitational with a 8K PR of 25:01.8, he placed 10th in the Lake Charles Toyota McNeese Cowboy Stampede with a 4M PR of 19:58.3, and finished 3rd in the McNeese Season Opener with a 6K PR of 18:49.3
Jacob Kipkogei was named new-comer of the year. He placed 48th in the South Central Region Cross Country Championships with a 10k PR of 32:31.5, he placed 13th in the SLC Conference Championships with a 4.97M PR of 25:27.6 Placed 71st in the Arturo Barrios Invitational with a 8K PR of 24:55.6. Kipkogei was also 5th in the Lake Charles Toyota McNeese Cowboy Stampede with a 4M PR of 19:32.8 and he finished in 1st in the McNeese Season Opener with a 6K PR of 18:33.0.
Kiplagat, the New Comer of the Year placed ninth at 25:09.15 at the conference championship while finishing in 36th place at 32:16.0 at the regional meet.
2021 LSWA Men's and Women's College Cross Country Team
Women's Specialty Awards
Co-Runners of the Year – Katy-Ann McDonald, LSU; Arina Kleshchukova, New Orleans
Freshman of the Year – Lorena Rangel, LSU
Newcomer of the Year – Alexandra Weir, New Orleans
Coach of the Year – Houston Franks, LSU
Men's Specialty Awards
Co-Runners of the Year – Davis Bove, LSU; Bradley Makuvire, Southeastern Louisiana
Freshman of the Year – Omer El-Fadl, McNeese
Newcomer of the Year – Jacob Kipkogei, McNeese
Coach of the Year – Brendon Gilroy, McNeese
2021 LSWA Men's College Cross Country Team
Davis Bove, LSU
Bradley Makuvire, Southeastern Louisiana
Gideon Cheplak, McNeese
Eric Coston, LSU
Aaron Gilliam, McNeese
Jackson Martingayle, LSU
Kolyn Saltzman, New Orleans
2021 LSWA Women's College Cross Country Team
Katy-Ann McDonald, LSU
Arina Kleshchukova, New Orleans
Ariana Jimenez, New Orleans
Ashley LaJocies, LSU
Therese Olshanski, Tulane
Lorena Rangel, LSU
Alexandra Weir, New Orleans
The specialty awards (Runner of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year) were selected through nominations by the state's cross country sports information directors.
