Baldwin-Wallace College Senior Kim Chinn Named OAC Co-Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year
Kim Chinn
BEREA, OHIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College senior Kim Chinn (Zanesville/ West Muskingum) has been selected as the Ohio Athletic Conference Co-Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year. She shares the award with Alison Steinbrunner of Ohio Northern University.
Chinn, a mass communications major, earned a Division III All-American honor in cross country as she finished 13th at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on November 20 in Wavely, Iowa. She was the top OAC finisher at nationals as she covered the 6K course in a school-record time of 21:31 overall. Chinn earned her trip to the national meet based on her third place finish at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Meet in Holland, Michigan. A year ago, she placed 117th at the Division III national meet with B-W as the host school.
“This is an outstanding honor and a well-deserved award for Kim,” said veteran Yellow Jacket Head Coach Dr. Bill Taraschke. “Kim had an outstanding senior season of cross country. The tougher the meet, the better she ran. Kim is simply a big meet runner. Each season, she just got better and better as a runner and better and better as a team leader.”
Chinn, a four-year letterwinner, had an outstanding senior season. She began the season by placing first of 35 runners at The College of Wooster Invitational, then placed second of 130 runners at the Case Western Reserve University Bill Sudeck Classic and then second at the Ohio Wesleyan University Invitational Meet. Her season culminated by placing sixth at the All-Ohio Championships and being the OAC Championship Meet runner-up on October 30.
Chinn is a two-time All-OAC runner (Top-18) at the OAC Championships as well as being tabbed as a OAC Runner of the Week on two occasions and a three-time All-Great Lakes Region performer.
In addition to cross country, Chinn has had a stellar career both indoors and outdoors for the B-W track and field teams. She is a four-time All-Ohio runner and eight-time All-OAC performer in indoor track as well as being named the OAC Runner of the Week on one occasion. Outdoors, she has been four-time All-Ohio performer and an eight-time All-OAC runner, including winning multiple OAC titles. Chinn also earned the OAC Championships Female Distance Runner of the Meet in 2010 and OAC Runner of the Week on one occasion. She capped her junior season by being an All-American and the NCAA Division III national runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
In addition to being an outstanding runner, Chinn also carries a 3.8 grade point average in the classroom and is a Dean’s List student, a member of a number of academic honor societies and has been tabbed both Academic All-OAC and ESPN Academic All-District IV. This spring, Chinn again will be a candidate for ESPN Academic All-America accolades.
Chinn and the Yellow Jacket indoor track team will open its 2011 season on Friday, January 21 when they host the annual Mid-January Meet on the Harrison Dillard Track inside the Lou Higgins Center in Berea. That is the first of four home meets, including the 2011 Greater Cleveland College Championship Meet on February 18 and the OAC Indoor Championship Meet on Feb. 25-26.
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