BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Following a dominating victory at the MIAC Championships, members of the No. 11-ranked Carleton College women's cross country program swept the conference's annual awards. Knights' first-year
Claire Vukovics was selected as both the MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year as well as the Rookie of the Year.
Donna Ricks was tabbed Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year by her peers.
Vukovics becomes the first person in MIAC history to capture both Athlete of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors for women's cross country. She was first to finish at the conference meet on Nov. 1, becoming the only Carleton first-year to win the MIAC Championships and the first rookie for any school to win the MIAC Women's Cross Country Championship race since 2013. Vukovics' time of 21:21.4 is now the fifth-fastest 6K time in recorded MIAC Women's Cross Country Championship history
Vukovics is the sixth runner in program history to take home the Athlete of the Year award (see chart below) and the second Carleton runner (
Hannah Preisser in 2022) to capture Rookie of the Year recognition.
This is the 14th time overall and time since 2013 that Ricks took home Coach of the Year honors for cross country. She guided the Knights to a 50-point margin of victory at this year's conference meet, the largest at the MIAC Championships since 1993 and the fourth-largest in conference history. She was previous chosen as Coach of the Year in 1995, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. Ricks has also earned Coach of the Year recognition for both indoor and outdoor track & field.
Carleton next heads to the NCAA North Region Championships to be held Saturday, Nov. 15 a strong performance at that meet could result in yet another berth at the NCAA Championships the following week.
Carleton runners named MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year
2011 -- Simone Childs-Walker
2014 -- Ruth Steinke
2017 -- Meg Mathison
2019 -- Amanda Mosborg
2024 --
Hannah Preisser
2025 -- Claire Vuckovics
