Senior Natalia Novak, the
Pacific West Conference Runner of the Year and individual champion, earned All-American honors as the top finisher from Academy of Art women's cross country in the team's first ever appearance at NCAA Nationals on
Nov. 20.
Through the first 550 meters of the 6k course, the Békéscsaba, Hungary native was 90th overall and she would continue to make her way through the competition's 250+ runners thereafter, rising to 79th at 1.3k then top 60 halfway in. Novak was up to 46th at the 4.3k mark and, despite a brief drop to 49th, her final one kilometer was something to behold. The Communications & Media Technologies major overtook 18 other runners during that stretch (the most by anyone in the top 50) to break into the top 40 All-American cutoff, claiming 31st with a new 6k personal record 21:20.7 good for the third-fastest mark in ART U history. The second Academy of Art women's cross country All-American to date following Jenny Bergren's
2012 run and the only one from the West Region on Nov. 20, Novak also turned in the second-highest placement by an Urban Knight at Nationals.
"My legs were hurting, but I did my best to stay mentally strong and keep fighting," Novak said. "When I got to the 5k mark and I knew there was only 1k left, I knew I had to fight even harder. And although I already felt like I was giving my all, I still found some strength in me to finish strong and passed quite a few people in the final stretch. It was definitely the hardest race of my life, but I gave it my all. I left everything on the course. And the fact that I became an All-American in cross country as a 800m and 1500m runner is just something that I never even dreamed of."
