2017 Conference Cross-Over Results

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – In the mix with over 20 regionally-ranked teams in both the men's and women's races at Lewis' Conference Cross-Over, Academy of Art University cross country finished in the upper third on both sides Saturday morning. Graduate student Gatien Airiau excelled along the Lewis Cross Country Course, securing the meet victory in first overall to lead the ART U men to eighth of 34 teams while junior Giulia McIsaac's 40th-place finish helped earn the women 10th place of 34 squads.

"It was great to see so much great, inter-region competition," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "Our athletes are coming along and are just where we need them to be. I expect to see improvement from here at both PacWest and NCAA West. I'm proud of their efforts today!"

For much of the 8k race, Airiau stayed with a pack of four from No. 3 Grand Valley State, No. 9 California Baptist, and Cedarville atop the collection of nearly 350 runners. However, his final push was enough to vault him not only into first overall, but had him at 24:42.8 and nearly six full seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

"Gas ran a very smart race and beat some of the best in the country," said Olson. "He has come so far since last year both in fitness and race savvy. It was a pleasure to watch."

He was followed by graduate student Freddie Hessian in 41st overall (25:48.7) while two more Urban Knights cracked the top 70. Those were graduate student Victor Moreau and sophomore Marvin Thomas who crossed the finish line in 63rd (26:04.2) and 67th (26:10.8) respectively. Completing the Knights' top five finishers was redshirt sophomore Rabah Houali in 90th overall (26:25.5). Olson called his performance "savage" after Houali finished despite pushing his body so hard that he collapsed with 100m to go.

"It's a great feeling to win this race especially with that competition," said Airiau. "We did well as a team. I'm very focused on training well the next four weeks and we'll see what happens at conference and Regionals. This season is incredibly exciting and we are ready to fight to get one of the precious tickets for Nationals!"

Up against 31 other teams (24 of whom were regionally-ranked last week), the men claimed eighth ahead of No. 22 Missouri Southern, No. 25 Malone, and No. 15 Bellarmine. The team title went to Grand Valley State, but Academy of Art rival California Baptist took second.

On the women's side, McIsaac captured 40th overall, coming in at 22:41.6 with a crowded group of runners from Walsh and Hillsdale, but ahead of one from California Baptist. Sophomore Swann Phelippeau beat out a pair from Michigan Tech for 52nd overall with a time of 22:58.9. Senior Jamie Morris turned in a 23:11.9 mark at 63rd overall while redshirt senior Madeline Dignadice went 23:44.5 for 106th. Finishing off the qualifiers was redshirt senior Beatriz Martinez Mercado at 126th (23:59.3) of 353 total runners.

The women's race also featured 34 teams and the Knights took 10th overall in front of No. 17 Cedarville, No. 8 Southern Indiana, and not far from ninth-place finisher No. 22 Malone. The No. 6 Lancers of CBU managed to upset No. 1 Grand Valley State for the top team finish.

Santa Clara's Bronco Open (Oct. 14) is on the upcoming schedule for ART U, but the next complete team competition will be the Pacific West Conference Championships on Oct. 21.