KU Duo Sweeps Big 12 Runner of the Week Honors
Oct. 11, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – After impressive showings at the Haskell Invitational in Lawrence on Saturday, junior Devin Wiegers and freshman Brendan Soucie have been named Big 12 Runners of the Week for competition occurring this past weekend, the conference office announced Tuesday.
“I think it’s a great example of hard work paying off,” said head coach Stanley Redwine. “Those two ran great races on Saturday and I couldn’t be happier they are getting recognized for their efforts. Both Brendan and Devin are great competitors and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Wiegers, who hails from Leawood, Kan., becomes the third KU women’s cross country runner in conference history to achieve the honor after Rebeka Stowe was awarded earlier this season and Lauren Bonds took home the weekly honor in 2008.
“I’m really surprised but I’m honored at the same time,” Wiegers said. “At Haskell, the main thing on my mind was to just to prove that I could compete and get back to where I was before I was injured. I ran one of my best races and it’s just a bonus to be getting this award.”
This past weekend Wiegers collected a career-best finish, when she placed second at the Haskell Invitational. She also set a season-best 5K time, clocking in at 19:29, ousting her former personal best time by nearly a minute.
Soucie secured his first career weekly honor, and is the first KU men’s runner to garner the league accolade since Zach Zarda won the award in 2008.
“Wow, that’s pretty awesome,” Soucie said of the honor. “We had been working up to that Haskell meet for awhile so it felt really good to have a solid race. It’s a great honor and I think a lot of credit needs to go to my coaches and teammates.”
Soucie, a product of Osawatomie, Kan., finished in fourth place overall at the Haskell Invitational with a time of 26:21.21 in just his third race as a Jayhawk.
Wiegers, Soucie and the rest of the Jayhawks return to action Oct. 14 when they compete in the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in Madison, Wis.
