Painter Stone – Staff Writer
University of Wyoming Senior Cross-Country runner Paul Roberts becomes the first UW athlete to receive the U.S Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association’s Athlete of the Week award. The announcement came after a big week for Roberts. Roberts was named Mountain West Cross-Country Athlete of the week. On Sept. 6 Roberts won the Individual title at the Wyoming Invite.
Only one year after Roberts’ transfer to UW from CSU-Pueblo he finished 20th overall in the NCAA National Championships. The Colorado Native was named All-American last year.
This year, he has already achieved a first-place win in UW’s upset victory over number 4 ranked Colorado.
Roberts holds the fourth all-time fastest time in UW history in the 3,000 meters with an 8:11.56 and holds the second fastest time in UW history in the 5,000 meter with a 14:04.12.
According to the coaching staff, Roberts had a tremendous offseason, training for the back half of the summer.
“You know, he was 20th in the nation last year, and he’s hungry to improve on that himself, and all those guys who are in that All-American rankings are very competitive,” Head Coach Scott Dahlberg said. “A lot of it will come down to the day and how you run.”
Dahlberg said, “As of right now, it seems like he is in a good place, he should be able to finish in the same vicinity as last year, and he is hoping to improve upon that. He is very capable of doing that”
Dahlberg also said cross country runners Chris Henry and Harry Ewing were both all-regional last year and “have been training very well.”
On the team as a whole, Dahlberg said he is hopeful and has a lot of faith in his runners.
“We would love to get a conference championship this year, we’re in a competitive conference that has some very good teams, nationally. So, it would take a pretty good effort but I think it is also a possibility,” Dahlberg said.
