Solenn Riou Southland "Freshman of the Year
11/1/2012 6:17:00 PM | Cross Country
Solenn Riou of Sam Houston State has been named as Southland Conference Cross Country "Freshman of the Year."
She is the first Bearkat runner to receive the honor.
The Nantes, France, native, finished seventh while the Bearkats finished second in the closest finish in Southland since 1994. Riou was one of three Sam Houston runners to finish in the top 10.
The top-10 finishers in the women's race earned All-Southland Conference honors.
Riou was one of three Sam Houston State women earned All-Southland Conference honors last week as they led the Bearkat women's cross country team to its highest league finish since 2000.
Alyssa Dooley, Riou and Ana Moreno combined to power the Kat women to a team total of 58 points, just two behind Southland champion Stephen F. Austin.
The two points separating the first-place Jacks and runner-up Bearkats mark the smallest winning margin at the Southland championships since 1994 when Texas State defeated Texas-Arlington by two points.
Only one other time in Southland history was a margin so slim and that came in the second year (1986) of the women's championships as Louisiana-Monroe and UT Arlington tied at 47.
Dooley was the race runner-up with a time of 21:07. Riou and Moreno places seventh and eighth, respectively, with marks of 21:57 and 21:58.
Dooley's performance tied as the highest finish ever by a Bearkat woman at the Southland cross country meet. Jennifer Alvarez also was the runnerup in the 1993 meet.
"The women have been looking really sharp of late and peaked just at the right time," SHSU distance coach Jesse Parker said. "They ran a great race."
Individual Award Winners
Female Athlete of the Year: Lauren Smith, Stephen F. Austin
Female Newcomer of the Year: Danielle Burchett, Stephen F. Austin
Female Freshman of the Year: Solenn Riou, Sam Houston State
Women's Coach of the Year: Cody Clark, Stephen F. Austin
Women's Cross Country All-Conference Team
Name, School, Class
1. Lauren Smith, Stephen F. Austin, Senior
2. Alyssa Dooley, Sam Houston State, Junior
3. Randi Plentl, Sr. SFA, Stephen F. Austin, Senior
4. BreAnna Briggs, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Senior
5. Tessni Carruthers, Nicholls State, Graduate
6. Claire Miles, Lamar, Senior
7. Solenn Riou, Sam Houston State, Freshman
8. Ana Moreno, Sam Houston State, Freshman
9. Samantha Watson, Oral Roberts, Sophomore
10. Cecilia Gonzalez, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Junior
