Mount Mercy University issued the following announcement on Nov. 14
Mount Mercy's Vanessa Cortes (SR/Bakersfield, Calif.) was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NAIA Midwest Region Female Athlete of the Year, the USTFCCCA announced today.
Cortes won the individual crown at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday with a time of 19:25. She also posted wins this fall at the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede and the Fighting Bee Invitational and was a four-time Heart of America Runner of the Week.
It's the second year in a row that Mount Mercy has had a student-athlete earn a USTFCCCA regional athlete of the year honor. During the 2018-19 season, Kathryn Vander Poel was honored as the USTFCCCA NAIA Midwest Region Indoor Track Female Athlete of the Year.
Cortes led the Mustang women's cross country team to the Heart of America team championship and will race with her squad at the NAIA Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 22, in Vancouver, Wash.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Mount Mercy University
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