ARLINGTON, Texas – The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced its 2025 cross country major award winners on Tuesday.

California Baptist’s Valentin Soca was voted the WAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year by the conference’s seven head coaches, while Utah Valley’s Sila Kiplagat earned WAC Men’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year. Utah Valley’s Morgan Nokes was selected as the WAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, and UT Arlington’s Dorcas Jepkosgei was named the WAC Women’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year. CBU head coach Sean Smith swept the voting for both WAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Soca, a junior, captured his first career cross country conference title at the 2025 WAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 31 in Arlington, posting an 8K time of 23:51.1 to help lead CBU to a sixth straight team victory. Soca made his season debut earlier in the month at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 17, placing seventh in a competitive 8K with a time of 23:30.1. Entering NCAA regional meets, Soca was the top ranked men’s runner in the WAC after checking in 90th in the Nov. 10 XCRI rankings.

Kiplagat enjoyed a stellar debut season for Utah Valley, highlighted by winning the SUU Color Country Invitational 6K on Oct. 4 with a time of 17:39.3. In his conference championship debut, Kiplagat earned runner-up honors at the 2025 WAC Championships with an 8K time of 23:52.2. Kiplagat checked in ranked 158th in the XCRI rankings on Nov. 10.

Nokes, a graduate student, continued a dominant 2025 campaign after missing the entirety of the 2024 season. Nokes captured five wins over her first six starts, logging victories at the UVU Collegiate Invite, the Beehive Invitational, the SUU Color Country Invitational and the Princeton Fall Classic during the regular season. Nokes paced the field at the 2025 WAC Championships with a 6K time of 19:27.6 to win the third women’s individual conference title for Utah Valley in the past four years. Nokes was ranked 39th in the Nov. 10 XCRI rankings on the eve of NCAA regional competition.

Jepkosgei has been the most consistent UT Arlington athlete during her first season with the Mavericks, registering four top-two finishes over her first five starts. Jepkosgei captured the Texas A&M Invitational 5K individual title and added regular season runner-up performances at the Gerald Richey UTA Invitational and Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. Jepkosgei was the second runner across the finish line at the 2025 WAC Championships with a time of 20:04.0. Jepkosgei was ranked 71st in the latest XCRI rankings on Nov. 10.

Smith guided CBU to its six straight WAC men’s cross country team title and also led the women’s team to its fifth overall win at the meet, with the men’s side scoring 22 points and the women’s lineup logging 29 points at the conference championships meet. The CBU men’s team has been a fixture in the USTFCCCA Top 25 rankings throughout the 2025 season, most recently checking in 17th in the Nov. 4 national coaches’ poll.

2025 WAC Cross Country Awards

MEN’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Valentin Soca, Jr., California Baptist

MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Sila Kiplagat, Fr., Utah Valley

MEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
Sean Smith, California Baptist

WOMEN’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Morgan Nokes, Grad, Utah Valley

WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Dorcas Jepkosgei, Fr., UT Arlington

WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
Sean Smith, California Baptist