Dec. 17, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami senior Pat Sovacool has been named Division I Male Athlete of the Year by the Ohio Cross Country Coaches Association. This marks the second straight year that a RedHawk has been honored as Laura Neufarth captured the female version of the award in 2007.

A native of Lakewood, Sovacool was one of three NCAA National Championship participants from universities in Ohio, placing the highest at 65th overall. He improved 70 spots from 2007, when he finished 135th, and was just over 90 seconds behind the overall winner Galen Rupp of Oregon.

Sovacool earned all-region honors with a 12th-place finish at the Great Lakes Regional in mid-November, but was the region's sixth-best runner at the finals meet. He was a first-team All-MAC selection after a third-place finish (24:39.1) at the league championship. During he regular season, Sovacool won each of the first three races on the schedule -- the Dayton 5K, the Legends Invitational and the Tennessee Invitational.

"I think this is an incredible honor for Pat," Head Coach Warren Mandrell said. "It recognizes all of the hard work and dedication that he has put into the sport, particularly when you consider the rich history and strength of distance running in the state of Ohio."