Seniors Wally Farris and Liz Ave Maria were chosen as the “Most Valuable Perfomers” for the 2010 Illinois Wesleyan men's and women's cross country teams, respectively.

Farris (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock HS), who was also the men's “MVP” in 2009, was the low finisher in five meets last fall, including the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, where he was 17th with a time of 25:21. He was also 46th in the NCAA Division III regional race with a season-best run of 25:13.

Ave Maria (Morton Grove, Ill./Regina Dominican HS) finished second in the CCIW championships with her time of 22:44.7 and was 44th at the Division III regional in 22:47.

In other team awards, junior T.J. Luby (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS) and sophomore Emily Shire (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park HS) were named as the men's and women's “Hardest Workers” while freshman Aaron Smith (Charleston, Ill./Charleston HS) and sophomore Rachael Williams (Minooka, Ill./Minooka HS) were selected as the “Best Newcomers.”

Head coach Greg Huffaker awarded letters to 11 men and 10 women. The letterwinners are:

SENIORS - Joe Campbell (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids HS), Mike Czajkowski (Skokie, Ill./Niles West HS), Wally Farris (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock HS), Keith Lehuta (Lemont, Ill./Lemont HS)

JUNIORS - Jim Fahey (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East HS), Paul Kwak (Palatine, Ill./Palatine HS), T.J. Luby (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North HS), Max Lustick (Olivette, Mo./Ladue Horton Watkins HS), Tyler Saunders (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson HS)

FRESHMEN - Bobby Castillo (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South HS), Aaron Smith (Charleston, Ill./Charleston HS)


SENIORS -Liz Ave Maria (Morton Grove, Ill./Regina Dominican HS), Lorin Biosca (Wheeling, Ill./Buffalo Grove HS), Maggie Byrne (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech HS), Jenny Dahm (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove HS)

SOPHOMORES - Elise Anderson (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South HS), Katherine Flippo (Green Oaks, Ill./Libertyville HS), Mandy Kompanowski (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator HS), Rachael Williams (Minooka, Ill./Minooka HS)

FRESHMEN - Carmin Beck (Skokie, Ill./Niles West HS), Alexis Sampson (Batavia, Ill./Batavia HS)