IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s 2020 Runner of the Year awards for cross country, as voted on by the conference’s cross country head coaches.
Both individual cross country champions in The American earned Runner of the Year accolades for the fourth straight season, as Tulsa redshirt senior Patrick Dever was named the Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year and Wichita State redshirt senior Winny Koskei won an unprecedented third straight American Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year award.
Men’s Runner of the Year
Patrick Dever * R-Sr. * Tulsa
Dever became the first Tulsa men’s athlete to claim Men’s Runner of the Year honors since the award was first decided by a popular vote in 2017. He began the season with a runner-up showing at the OSU Winter Open, clocking an 8K time of 23:58.9. Dever then became the third different Tulsa runner (fourth overall) to finish as the individual men’s champion at the American Cross Country Championships, claiming the gold medal in the championship 8K with a time of 23:28.82. He closed the cross country campaign for sixth-place Tulsa by placing fifth individually, earning All-America honors at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships with a 10K time of 29:59.9. Dever’s fifth-place showing was the best NCAA meet finish by a runner representing The American in conference history.
Women’s Runner of the Year
Winny Koskei * R-Sr. * Wichita State
Koskei won an unprecedented third straight Women’s Runner of the Year award, the first conference athlete from either gender to win three top runner accolades since it began being decided by a popular vote in 2017. Koskei was victorious in her season debut at the Wichita State JK Gold Classic with a winning 5K time of 17:19.2. She then added a third consecutive individual conference title, the only runner in either gender in league history to win three straight cross country gold medals, with a 6K showing of 20:49.24 at the American Cross Country Championships. Koskei completed her decorated cross country career with a third trip to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, taking 125th place with a time of 21:42.6.