Yonca Kutluk from the North Dakota cross country team was named the 2023 Summit League Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, the league offices announced on Wednesday afternoon. The native of Turkey became the first cross country runner in UND history to earn the title of Summit League Athlete of the Year.Earlier this month, Kutluk finished 88th at the NCAA Championships with a 6K time of 20:35.5, giving her the sixth-best finish at the meet in Summit League history. By running at the meet, Kutluk became the first UND runner on the women’s side to compete at a national championship in UND’s Division I era. She was also just the second Fighting Hawk to compete at the NCAA Championships in UND’s Division I history, joining Patrick Kipkemboi (2020, 209th) and the first runner on the women’s side to compete at a national meet since Heidi Evans took 16th at the 2007 NCAA Division II Championships.Kutluk punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional, running a 6K time of 20:36.4. With her finish, she became the first member of the women’s team to earn USTFCCCA All-Region accolades since 2013, when Erin Wysocki took 24th at the NCAA Midwest Regional.Prior to the NCAA Regional, Kutluk only ran in two meets as a Fighting Hawk. At the Summit League Championships, she made headlines in the 6K, winning the individual title with a time of 20:56.01. With the win, she not only earned First Team All-Summit League honors, but also became the first cross country Summit League champion in school history on the women’s side. She beat the rest of the field by over 10 seconds and was later named the Summit League Championships MVP.Before the conference championships, Kutluk ran in the 6K at the Paul Short Run and was the story of the meet for UND, placing fifth with a time of 20:28.6. There were 393 runners in that race. She was later named the Summit League Cross Country Performer of the Week on Oct. 3 for her performance and became the first NoDak runner in school history to earn that title.Kutluk opened the year competing unattached at the Ron Pynn Classic and was the individual 5K champion with a time of 17:34.0. She finished the race over 27 seconds faster than the rest of the competition.2023 Summit League Athletes/Coaches of the YearWomen’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year: Yonca Kutluk, North DakotaMen’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year: Carson Noecker, South Dakota StateWomen’s Cross Country Coach of the Year: Nolan Fife, South DakotaMen’s Cross Country Coach of the Year: Rod DeHaven, South Dakota State
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(Release, photo: UND Athletics)