Results: Women & Men

MONMOUTH, Ore. – On Friday evening, the ART U cross country teams stepped foot on the future site of NCAA Division II West Regionals for the Ash Creek Invitational hosted by Western Oregon. A solid showing by both squads were reflected by fifth place finishes for each team, led respectively by senior Valentin Pepiot's fourth place finish and sophomore McKaela Christenson's ninth place result.

"Our main purpose today was to familiarize ourselves with the travel and course for West Regionals," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "But today was also our season opener in earnest and we found out where exactly the rust had accumulated over the summer. This continues to be a very fun team to coach and, with their continued focus on how they can get better, I expect us to make rapid progress over the coming weeks."

Crossing the 6.3k course finish line amid a large collection of Chico State runners, Pepiot claimed fourth overall and was just one tenth of a second behind third place's Kyle Medina. Pepiot's average mile time was 4:39.8. Graduate student Kris Everett came in at 22nd among qualified individuals sporting a time of 19:34.8.

Rounding out the five Academy of Art finishers, freshman Phillip Kruse claimed 31st overall with a 19:47.8 mark and senior Jack Nevins came in less than 20 seconds behind at 20:03.3 in 36th place. Junior Austin Esposito took 50th overall with a time of 20:24.8.

The men's race was dominated by Chico State with the top three individual finishers all Wildcats. William Reyes was the race's champion at 17:47.1. In fifth overall, ART U beat out Williamette as well as fellow PacWest Conference competitor Fresno Pacific.

Cracking the top 10 individual finishers on the women's side was Christenson in ninth overall. She completed the 4.6k race with a time of 17:01.8, delivering 5:57.5 for her average mile. Christenson came at the front end of a trio of Portland runners as well as the fourth and fifth finishers for Chico State.

At 29th overall, senior Elizabeth Khuu came in at 17:40.1 and she was followed by junior Kaelyn Harbison at 17:51.1 (36th). Freshmen Emma Johnson and Giulia McIsaac were one second apart at 18:03.3 and 18:04.3 in 39th and 40th respectively. Finally, junior Emily McCarty crossed the line at 18:28.3 in 48th overall out of 82 qualified runners.

Though the Chico State women's team won the collective competition, it was Simon Fraser's Rebecca Bassett who claimed the individual title with a time of 16:28.1. At fifth, the Urban Knights bested local rival San Francisco State by 45 seconds in addition to Western Oregon and Fresno Pacific among others.

Academy of Art returns to Golden Gate Park on Sept. 17 for a quad-meet featuring SF State as host. The women's race begins the day at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by the men at 11:15 a.m.