2017 Pacific West Conference Championships

BELMONT, Calif. – Runners from the Academy of Art University men's and women's cross country teams combined for runner-up finishes at the Pacific West Conference Championships. After covering a variety of hills at the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course early Saturday morning, highlights were a total of seven Urban Knights making the All-PacWest Teams (three women, four men) including third-place finishes for sophomore Swann Phelippeau and graduate student Gatien Airiau.

Toeing the starting line on a crisp morning at 8 a.m., the women's 6k saw Phelippeau expand on her place among the front pack with moves past two others in the second half of the race for third overall at a lifetime-best 21:35.6 and All-PacWest First Team honors. Strong pack running helped junior Giulia McIsaac (21:54.9) and senior Jamie Morris (22:15.6) each make the All-PacWest Second Team with ninth and 13th place finishes as well as lifetime-bests as well.

Senior Madeline Dignadice came across the line in 28th, offering the fastest time of her career (22:54.7), and Beatriz Martinez Mercado was less than a second behind in 29th with her own lifetime-best 23:01.4. Junior Ashley Brown added a new personal record 23:10.3, taking 32nd out of 111 total runners.

With six among the top 10 finishers including the race victor Emeline Delanis, No. 1 California Baptist took their fourth consecutive team title with 22 points. With its best result in program history, ART U collectively finished second with 76 points ahead of Biola's 81 and a 142-point tie between Dixie State and Point Loma.

In a bit of a mirror of Lewis' Conference Cross-Over, the men's 8k race featured a trio at the front when the pack began to thin out midway through. Airiau was among the three, leading for the early portion of the race before taking third overall in the end. He would post a time of 25:09.5 for All-PacWest First Team honors.

Graduate students Freddie Hessian and Victor Moreau were both among the All-PacWest Second Team finishers as they finished 10th (25:46.3) and 12th (25:54.8) respectively. Sophomore Marvin Thomas moved up three spots from his 2017 PacWest Freshman of the Year effort at the championships, coming in at 18th overall with a time of 26:15.6. Redshirt sophomore Rabah Houali completed the Knights' five qualifiers in 24th of 89 at 26:28.8.

Similar to the women's side, six Lancers from No. 7 California Baptist finished among the top 10 including winner McMarshall Hartzenburg. It was CBU's seventh consecutive team title and their final PacWest victory as they head to the NCAA Division I Western Athletic Conference next season. Second-place ART U's 64 points followed the Lancers' 24 and were in front of 90 from Biola and 111 from Azusa Pacific.

Following a two-week break from competition, Academy of Art will step into the NCAA West Regional Championships set for Nov. 4 at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. The Urban Knights raced on this course for Regionals in 2015.