SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Six members of the Santa Clara University women's cross country team earned West Coast Conference All-Academic Honorable Mention recognition Thursday, as announced by the conference office.
 
Milaina Almonte, Mariah Aragon, Rachelle Cormier, Sarah Guralnick, Julia Russo and Aliyah Yearian each collected the honorable mention awards. The six accolades extended the Broncos' streak of having at least five WCC all-academic honorees to eight years in a row (since 2018).
 
Almonte earned the honor as a mechanical engineering major with a 3.803 GPA. Almonte delivered one of the strongest seasons in program history, earning first team all-WCC honors with a sixth-place finish at the conference championship and adding all-region recognition with a 20th-place showing at the NCAA West Region Championship. She was Santa Clara's No. 1 runner in all five of her races, finishing no worse than 35th and turning in four top-20 results, including three top-10 finishes. Almonte won the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 18 in a school-record 20:06.5, winning by 27 seconds, and opened the season as runner-up at the USF Invitational.
 
Aragon, a business major with a 3.292 GPA, competed in four meets and contributed to Santa Clara's top-seven at the Bronco Invitational. She ran a personal-best 22:06.6 over 6 kilometers to help the Broncos finish second as a team. Aragon also raced at the season-opening USF Invitational, the Kim Duyst Twilight, and the WCC Championship.
 
Cormier, majoring in philosophy with a 3.771 GPA, raced in three meets on the year. She produced a personal-best 23:37.9 for 6 km at the Bronco Invitational, where the Broncos finished second overall, and also competed at the USF Invitational and the Kim Duyst Twilight.
 
Guralnick earned recognition with a 3.976 GPA as a biochemistry major. Guralnick was one of Santa Clara's top-two runners in all six meets, leading the team at the Kim Duyst Invitational with a fifth-place finish. She also placed fifth at the Bronco Invitational in 20:38.8 — the seventh-fastest 6 km time in program history — as Santa Clara secured second place as a team. Guralnick added a top-40 finish at the WCC Championship and a top-90 result at the NCAA West Region Championship.
 
Russo, majoring in psychology with a 3.498 GPA, scored for Santa Clara in all six meets and ranked among the team's top-three runners twice. She placed 52nd overall at the WCC Championship and ran a personal-best 21:47.6 at the Bronco Invitational to help the Broncos earn a runner-up team finish. Russo also scored at the USF Invitational, the Kim Duyst Twilight, the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational, and the NCAA West Region Championship.
 
Yearian, a biology major with a 3.579 GPA, competed in five of Santa Clara's six meets and made significant progress throughout the season. After opening as the team's No. 11 finisher in August, she moved into Santa Clara's top-six by the championship portion of the schedule. Yearian was the Broncos' No. 6 runner at both the WCC Championship and the NCAA West Region Championship. She also ran a personal-best 22:29.2 at the Bronco Invitational and competed at the Kim Duyst Twilight and the USF Invitational.
 
To earn WCC All-Academic recognition in cross country, student-athletes need at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA from the most recent spring term, must be a key contributor in competition, and have reached at least sophomore standing with a full year already spent at their school (freshmen and transfers aren't eligible). They also have to race in at least half of the team's meets, and from that pool the WCC recognizes 10 women's cross country runners with all-academic first team honors.