2010 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Championship
Men's Individual Results

2010 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Championship
Women's Individual Results

Turtle Bay, HI -- Concluding the season with the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships, Academy of Art University was led by 1st and 2nd place finishes from junior Amos Maru and Daveson Marindich. The tandem's personal records helped ART U to a second place finish. Junior Cassandra Schumacher captured 8th overall, propelling the women's squad to 3rd as a team.

"I'm extremely proud of the team's effort as a whole," Head Coach Charles Ryan said. "I know they may be disappointed, but I think to anyone watching, two things were obvious: 1. We had the two best runners on the field and 2. BYU-Hawaii had the best team. As they have shown all year, Amos and Dave were incredible once again today."

Maru and Marindich may have taken the top two slots, but they did so with incredible career runs. As the top individual qualifier for the second consecutive season, Maru's time of 24:33.1 tied his best mark on an 8k course since he joined Academy of Art University. The Nandi Hills, Kenya native matched the time he previously set at the 2010 Stanford Invitational.

Like his teammate, Marindich made some personal history by posting a 24:37.8 time at the PacWest Championships. The 2nd place finisher ran under 25:00 for the first time in his career to set a new personal best by just over 24 seconds. For leading the entire pack, Maru and Marindich both captured All-PacWest First Team honors.

"With Amos and Dave, we knew there was a runner from Grand Canyon who would challenge them so they ran relaxed for first three miles and then made a move together to push ahead at the end," Coach Ricketts said. "It was really a huge PR for Dave because he had never broken 25:00 before and did so by 20 seconds. It was also great that Amos tied his career best which he set at Stanford in this conference race."

Following the ART U top two, senior Geoffrey Cheruiyot crossed as the third Knights finisher in 17th place. His time of 27:16.5 was his top mark this season and put him ahead of the third runner from Grand Canyon. Junior Simon Mutai turned in a time of 27:51.2 and finished 21st overall while the fifth ART U runner was junior Mark Bretan in 24th place (28:00).

The Urban Knights took 2nd as a team overall as BYU-Hawaii captured the PacWest Conference crown this time around. With five of their runners in the top nine spots, the Seasiders put forth a strong showing at the championship race this season. Finishing closely behind ART U was Hawaii Pacific in third place, though just one Sea Warrior eclipsed the top 10.

"We came in wanting to win and expected to win, but we were just beaten by a better team," Coach Ryan said. "The BYU-Hawaii coaching staff there did a spectacular job and they deserve all credit. I'm overjoyed we came away with second because Hawaii Pacific was right on our heels. The effort our guys put in today really helped us get second. They did a great job."

Team	Points
1. BYU-Hawaii	24
2. Academy of Art	65
3. Hawaii Pacific	75
4. Grand Canyon	98
5. Hawaii-Hilo	154
6. Chaminade	163
7. Dixie State	184
8. Notre Dame de Namur	205
9. Dominican	258

On the women's side, strong contributions from all five Knights qualifiers secured a 3rd place result. The team ran with tremendous heart according to the coaching staff and built upon its previous finish from a year ago.

"The women were absolutely incredible," Coach Ryan said. "They did a great job and it was just huge for them since this was their highest finish in conference. A lot of coaching respect goes to Anne Ricketts for training the kids and keeping positive attitudes all around. It's a great group of guys and girls and I'm proud to be the head coach."

Leading the charge was Schumacher who crossed the line in 8th place with a time of 24:12.5 in the championship race. Schumacher's new career best on a 6k course placed her ahead of the top qualifiers from Hawaii-Hilo and Chaminade among others. For her efforts Saturday morning, Schumacher earned All-PacWest Second Team honors.

"Cassandra really competed and stayed up near the front for the whole race, leading the team as she has," Coach Ryan said.

Academy of Art University had many proud performances behind their leader at the PacWest Championships.  Freshman Kylie Long brought home an 18th place finish with her second best time on a 6k course this season (25:44.9). Junior Stacey Toth, the team captain, ran an inspiring race to turn in a 26:04 mark and capture 20th close behind her teammate. As the fourth Knights finisher, junior Leticia Saldaña posted a time of 26:25.3 for 24th place.

"The women did really well," Coach Ricketts said. "Cassandra went out really aggressively in top pack and held her own so that was fantastic. Kylie ran well and Stacey ran with all of her heart right behind Kylie so that was great. For the women to go up a place from last year, we were very satisfied with that. Their whole sentiment is very excited."

Along with the other strong efforts, sophomore Emily Allis put up a solid mark in her first cross country race of the season. Allis joined the squad from ART U track & field for this final competition and captured 38th place (28:24.0) while helping serve as the fifth Academy of Art qualifier.

"Stacey ran the best race I've ever seen her run right behind Kylie," Coach Ryan said. "That was a big boost. But honestly, the surprise of the day was Emily and with the points being so close, her stepping over from track to finishing fifth for us in the middle of the pack was great."

In the team competition, BYU-Hawaii won its third consecutive PacWest Conference Championship with five runners in the top seven slots. However, the individual crown went to Frida Aspnaes of Hawaii Pacific for her 22:18.1 time on the 6k course. Hawaii Pacific finished in second place.
 

Team	Points
1. BYU-Hawaii	24
2. Hawaii Pacific	56
3. Academy of Art	108
4. Grand Canyon	116
5. Dixie State	140
6. Hawaii-Hilo	161
7. Chaminade	185
8. Dominican	188
9. Notre Dame de Namur	208