NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State cross country juniors Josh Wilkins and Erin Wrozek received honorable mentions to the men's and women's Louisiana Sports Writers Association's All-Louisiana Cross Country Collegiate teams.
 
Wilkins had another stellar season with three top-five finishes in four races. The Bowie, Maryland, native came in 23^rd at the Southland Conference Championships. ??
 
Wrozek took a huge leap forward for the Lady Demons as she finished top-11 in three of four races. The Richardson, Texas, native capped her season with a 50^th place finish in the Southland Conference Championships.
 
The Southland Conference made a splash on the All-Louisiana roster with six of the 14 runners selected.
 
Tulane sophomore Emmanuel Rotich and McNeese junior Katja Woelfl were named the runners of the year for the men's and women's teams, respectively.
 
Rotich headed a men's award group that included Freshman of the Year Stanley Limoh (Louisiana) and a tie for Coach of the Year between UL Lafayette's Lon Badeaux and Tulane's Eric Peterson.
              
Other women's award winners included Freshman of the Year Ruby Stauber (LSU), Newcomer of the Year Maliya Vaughn (Xavier) and Coach of the Year Joseph Moses (Xavier).
 
Rotich, a Sotik, Kenya, native won the South Central Regional with a school record 10K time (29:58.90), which led to an NCAA National Championships trip. The four-time American Athletic Conference Male Runner of the Week also broke Tulane's 8K record (23:19.90) and racked up seven consecutive top-three finishes.
 
Woelfl finished the year as the state's No. 1 ranked runner in the 6K with her time of 21:26.60 in the NCAA D1 South Central Region, where she placed 27^th overall. Woelfl was the top Louisiana runner at the Southland Conference Championships, finishing fourth (21:31.90). The Ellhofen, Germany native added a win in the McNeese Cowboy Stampede.
 
As a freshman, Limoh was selected as the Sun Belt Conference's newcomer and freshman of the year, while making the South Central All-Region Team with a third-place finish. The Kapsabet, Kenya, native earned three first-place finishes for the Ragin' Cajuns, He's the first Ragin' Cajun' to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 1971.
 
Stauber made an immediate impact for the LSU women as the Plymouth, Minn., native finished first on the team on four different occasions. Her best individual finish came in the Rice Invitational with a time of 14:45.69 to place eighth in the 4K. In her first collegiate event, she and teammate Erika Lewis took the crown in the McNeese State 6K relays.
 
Vaughn, from Elk Grove, Calif., was the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference individual runner-up and helped Xavier to a conference title.
 
Peterson led his squad to a second-place finish in the American Athletic Conference, the program's highest conference ranking since the 1990s and best since joining the AAC in 2014.

Badeaux enjoyed similar success as he led the Ragin' Cajuns to second place in the Sun Belt Conference, its best finish since winning the conference title in 2004. He also guided the Cajuns to their highest regional ranking ever, No. 9, in the USTFCCA South Central Region Poll.
 
Moses guided Xavier to its 10^th Gulf Coast Athletic Conference title and earned its sixth automatic NAIA National Championships bid in his 12 seasons.
 
On the men's side, McNeese led the way with three of the seven all-state members with senior Enrique Soto, junior Nathan Jones, and freshman Jacob Daigle.
 
Soto was the top Louisiana male runner at the Southland Conference Championships with a fifth-place finish before a 27^th-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional.
 
Jones and Daigle both turned in top-11 8K times in the state to finish 17^th and 18^th, respectively, at the SLC Championships.
 
Ragin' Cajuns' junior Beau Robinson made his second consecutive all-state appearance after four top-five finishes led him to first-team All-Sun Belt honors for a second straight season.
 
LSU sophomore Dajour Braxton returns to the all-state team as he just missed the NCAA National Championships with an 11^th-place finish in the South Central Regional.
 
On the women's team, McNeese and Tulane led the way with two runners each.
 
McNeese junior Allison Smegal placed 19^th at the Southland Conference Championships with her best finish being second at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede 5K, joining Woelfl on the seven-runner team.
 
Tulane junior Emma Newton and redshirt freshman McKenzie Melius represented the Green Wave.
 
Newton finished 18^th at the American Athletic Conference Championships and 28^th at the NCAA South Central Regional.  Melius won the Allstate Sugar Bowl XC Festival before qualifying for the conference and regional meets.
 
Southeastern junior Clarissa Smith had three top-10 finishes this season, including a win at the New Orleans Invitational, before placing 23^rd at the Southland Conference Championships.
 
UL Lafayette senior Courtney Musgrove was selected the Sun Belt Conference Third Team, winning at the Mississippi College Choctaw Open as part of four top-20 finishes.
 
The LSWA All-Louisiana cross country teams were voted on by the state's sports information directors. SID's were not allowed to vote for their own nominees.
 
 
2016 LSWA All-Louisiana Men's Cross Country Collegiate Team
 
First Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Emmanuel Rotich – Tulane – So. – Sotik, Kenya
Stanley Limoh – UL Lafayette – Fr. – Kapsabet, Kenya
Dajour Braxton – LSU – So. – Las Vegas, Nev.
Enrique Soto – McNeese – Sr. – Dubberly, La.
Beau Robinson – UL Lafayette – Jr. – Luling, La.
Nathan Jones – McNeese – Jr. – Rhyl, Wales
Jacob Daigle – McNeese – Fr. – Napoleonville, La.
 
Honorable Mention: Matt Rice, UL Lafayette; Josh Wilkins, Northwestern State; Clayton O'Callaghan, New Orleans; Devyn Keith, Tulane; Anthony Rizzi, Loyola; Christopher August, Xavier; Moses Aloiloi, Tulane; Joshua Cheruyot, Tulane; Luke Betts, McNeese.
 
Runner of the Year: Emmanuel Rotich, Tulane
Freshman of the Year: Stanley Limoh, UL Lafayette
 
Coach of the Year (tie): Eric Peterson, Tulane; Lon Badeaux, UL Lafayette 
 

2016 LSWA All-Louisiana Women's Cross Country Collegiate Team
 
First Team
Name – School – Pos. – Cl. – Hometown
Katja Woelfl – McNeese – Jr. – Ellhofen, Germany
Emma Newton – Tulane – Jr. – Hollis, N.H.
Ruby Stauber – LSU – Fr. – Plymouth, Minn.
Clarissa Smith – Southeastern – Jr. – Holden, La.
Courtney Musgrove – UL Lafayette – Sr. – Mandeville, La.
Allison Smegal – McNeese – Jr. – Oshawa, Canada
McKenzie Mellius – Tulane – R-Fr. – Mountain Lakes, N.J.
 
Honorable Mention: Taylor Price, Xavier; Erin Wrozek, Northwestern State; Lauren Bartles, Tulane; Kaitlin Fleming, ULM; Maliya Vaughn, Xavier; Inogen Hull, McNeese; Kacie Kaufman, Louisiana Tech.
 
Runner of the Year: Katja Woelfl, McNeese
Freshman of the Year: Ruby Stauber, LSU
 
Coach of the Year: Joseph Moses, Xavier