BYU-Hawaii’s Lacey (Johnson) Krout earns Runner of Year honor

PHOENIX, AZ – BYU-Hawaii sophomore Lacey (Johnson) Krout (Preston, ID/Preston) has been selected the Pacific West Conference Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year for the 2009-10 athletic season.

The PacWest women’s cross country awards were announced on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010, by the conference media office in Phoenix, AZ.

Krout earned the honor after leading her Seasiders to the 2009 PacWest Championship by finishing second in the race with a time of 19:01.7. In 2008 she splashed on to the scene by winning the Freshman of the Year award.

During the 2009 campaign, Krout twice was named the PacWest Runner of the Week, earning the first honor on Sept. 28 and then again on Oct. 19.

Krout is a two-time All-PacWest First Team selection after finishing in the Top 7 of the conference championship race in each of her first two seasons of eligibility.

The All-PacWest Team was previously announced in October immediately following the league’s championship race. Runners crossing the finish line in first through seventh place are dubbed First Team, while those finishing 8-14 are named Second Team.

Freshman of the Year honors were bestowed upon Grand Canyon’s Joy Hulsey (Peoria, AZ/Sunrise Mountain) who wrapped up her rookie campaign by taking 21^st at the PacWest Championship. She recorded a time of 21:42.4.

Academy of Art junior Irinel Zamfir (Suceava, Romania) has been selected the PacWest Newcomer of the Year.

Although an injury shortened her season, Zamfir came on strong in the second half of the year and captured the top finish for AAU (8th, 19:32.1) at the Pacific West Conference Championship.

She achieved a new personal best (19:25) in arguably her strongest race of the year at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Oct. 17 where she placed fourth overall.

Zamfir was named the final PacWest Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week for 2009 on Oct. 26 for her outstanding race on Oct. 23. In a 19-34 dual meet victory over Notre Dame de Namur, Zamfir raced to a first-place time of 20:26 on the 5K course at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow in San Francisco. She was the first of four AAU runners to cross the finish line.

BYU-Hawaii Head Coach Norman Kaluhiokalani was named the PacWest Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after leading the Seasiders to the conference title.