On Wednesday, Cal sophomore Deborah Maier became the school’s first-ever female runner to earn a spot on the All-Pac-10 First Team since the conference awards began in 1999.

Maier paced the women in all four of her 2009 races, including a sixth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships. Her showing was the best individual performance at the meet by a Bear in 12 years and headlined the women’s highest conference finish (fifth) since 1988.

She also earned all-regional honors in November after taking 14th at the NCAA regional championships in Springfield, Ore.

The Cameron Park, Calif., native is the Cal cross country team’s first female All-Pac 10 mention since Bridget Duffy was named to the second team in 2003.