OGDEN, Utah (November 5, 2015) - Southern Utah’s Eric Houle has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, while Weber State’s Paul Pilkington has been named Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. The 2015 recipients were chosen in a vote by the league’s coaches earlier this week.
Houle, along with assistant coaches Paul Limpf and Nigel Sharp, guided the Thunderbird men to their first Big Sky Championship. Since joining the conference in 2012, SUU had not won a Big Sky title in any men’s sport, with the cross country team finishing third that year and adding a pair of runner-up finishes the next two season. SUU responded with a statement victory this year, having the top two finishers overall, five all-conference performers and seven athletes in the top 13.
Individual champion Hayden Hawks and runner-up Mike Tate led the way for SUU, while Matt Wright, Josh Collins and Ibrahim Ahmed also became all-conference performers with top-10 finishes. The meet hosts scored 26 points and knocked off second-place Northern Arizona in the process, snapping their streak of eight consecutive men’s titles. SUU became the ninth different school to win a men’s conference title as well.
Houle is in his 24th season at SUU, where in cross country and track & field he accumulated over 30 conference team titles and Coach of the Year honors in the Summit League. He was named the NCAA Mountain Regional Coach of the Year after the T-Birds won the regional team title in 1999. This season, he has helped the SUU men climb as high as No. 25 in the USTFCCCA national coaches’ poll and rank in the upper third of the Mountain Region rankings.
Under Pilkington and assistant coach Isaac Wood’s tutelage, the Weber State women reclaimed the conference title this season after a one-year hiatus, earning their fourth championship in the past five years. The Wildcats were led by three all-conference performers and placed their first five runners in the top 15 on the way to 39 points. WSU won their eighth women’s title in school history.
Runner-up Ellie Child paced the Wildcats while Hailey Whetten and Jamie Stokes each contributed all-conference performances with fourth and seventh-place finishes, respectively. Paige Dilmore, MarLee Mitchell and Alice Keller helped seal the deal for the team title as they each finished in the top 17 overall.
Pilkington is in his eighth season as the head cross country coach at WSU. This was his fourth conference title, and he has been named the Big Sky Coach of the Year after each of those victories. During the 2012 season, the Wildcats were ranked as high as 13th nationally and claimed the Mountain Region title that season, earning Pilkington Coach of the Year honors regionally. This season, WSU has climbed up the rankings steadily, now ranking No. 25 in the latest national coaches’ poll and fourth in the Mountain Region.