Women's Results | Men's Results

Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia)

Novato, CA -- On a beautiful day at scenic Stafford Lake, the Urban Knights were focused on one thing: Giving their all for the 2013 Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships. The men captured fourth overall led by Nicolas Rifflard (6th) and Temarius Walker (18th) while the women came in eighth behind Kaelyn Harbison's impressive day (16th). That trio earned PacWest All-Conference honors and will be making the trip to Spokane, Washington for NCAA Division II West Regionals.

Bursting out of the gate with confidence, Harbison steadily remained with the front of the pack throughout the 5k course that took the competitors on various terrains, over large hills, and into a sunny home stretch along the lake itself. It was there at the end where Harbison turned on the jets and cruised into 16th overall with a time of 18:39.8 that edged Dixie State's top runner, Elizabeth Cook. It was Harbison's first 5k of the year and had her on pace to significantly better her previous 6k low of 23:07.4 that came at SF State. The Academy of Art freshman was named to the All-PacWest Third Team.

Arianna Michaels, last year's PacWest Freshman of the Year, claimed 36th overall up against the heavily improved competition around the conference. She jumped ahead of Fresno Pacific's Jennifer Arellano and finished at 19:35.8. Fellow Valencia High School teammate Madeline Dignadice fought through an injury that had kept her out the previous two races with a 20:39.8 that put her 53rd overall.

The fourth ART U finisher was Kayla Pritchett who was on pace to also set a new 6k personal best. She went 23:05.3 for 76th and Mistic Scott went for a gutsy 23:52.2 that placed her 80th overall. Collectively, the women's squad captured eighth, topping UH Hilo, Holy Names, Notre Dame de Namur, and Chaminade. Overall the race was won by Fiona McKenna of Hawaii Pacific (17:16.1) though it was Azusa Pacific who picked up the team title.

On the men's side, Rifflard was with the front group for the entire 8k and pushed hard at the end to get in front of the top finishers from both Azusa Pacific and host Dominican. The freshman turned in a 26:56.4 to capture sixth place overall and a spot on the All-PacWest First Team. The course itself proved to be tougher than any the men had seen prior as the race victor was California Baptist's Bryton Reim who was way out ahead, but still did not drop below 26:00 (26:00.4).

Walker, who by design started out slower than much of the pack, used an incredible kick at end to power into 18th overall with a time of 27:45.1. He would blow past Hawaii Pacific's Marco Perez then BYU-Hawaii's Tanner Smith to set a new lifetime best and claim his place on the All-PacWest Third Team.

It was next the tag team of Jack Nevins and Austin Esposito who crossed the line for Academy of Art. Nevins came in at 27:52.4 (23rd) while Esposito went 27:56.5 (24th). Both stayed close to one another throughout and collectively bested Hawaii Pacific's Jorge Mendez and a pair from California Baptist. Coming in as the fourth runner for ART U was Conrad Larson who sported a 28:33.7 for 34th overall. He was backed up by Logan Means (29:47.2, 48th) and Nicholas Alexander (32:28.2, 62nd), who both approached the finish line with one last push.

Overall, the Urban Knight men took fourth place as CBU earned the team title by a significant margin. Hawaii Pacific and Azusa Pacific got ahead of ART U, but Academy of Art saw its final placement a good distance in front of BYU-Hawaii and Fresno Pacific.

The trio of Harbison, Rifflard, and Walker will be in action on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Plantes Ferry Sports Complex in Spokane, WA for NCAA DII West Regionals.