PacWest Release
Phoenix, AZ -- With the second fastest run in his Urban Knight career at the University of Washington Sundodger Invitational this past Saturday, senior
Daveson Marindich has been named Pacific West Conference Runner of the Week. Also earning PacWest Weekly Top 10 Honor Roll selections for the 7th place Academy of Art team were seniors
Amos Maru and
Simon Mutai as well as freshman
Jack Nevins. The honors were announced by the PacWest Media Office in Phoenix, AZ, on Tuesday, Sept. 20 for races contested on Sept. 17.
The 2011 Sundodger Invite saw Marindich turn in a time of 24:58.24, crossing the line in 5th place overall. This meet marked the first instance in which Marindich had ever bested his teammate Maru in a race where both runners competed. The Eldoret, Kenya native eclipsed the 25:00 minute mark for just the second occasion in his four-year career at Academy of Art. However, it was also the second time in the past three meets as his lifetime best came last season at the PacWest Conference Championships. This is the first PacWest Runner of the Week honor for Marindich in his ART U career.
Though not the leader on this occasion, Maru still had a strong performance with a 7th place finish and a time of 25:13.50 at last Saturday's UW Sundodger Invite. The Academy of Art tandem of Marindich and Maru both crossed the line ahead of the top runners from San Francisco State, Trinity Western, and Seattle Pacific.
For all the highlights from Marindich and Maru, Mutai posted his one of his best runs as an Urban Knight. His time of 26:04.4 was a lifetime record and good enough to capture 37th individually. Mutai knocked nearly two seconds off his previous best of 26:06 which came at the 2008 PacWest Championships. On Saturday, Mutai finished a mere fraction of a second behind the second place runner for Trinity Western.
Nevins made his contribution to the 7th place ART U finish by completing the 8k course with a time of 26:28.16. As the fourth Academy of Art finisher and the 59th runner overall, Nevins was able to improve tremendously in just his second meet yet. The freshman reduced his time by 25 seconds compared to the previous week at the USF Invitational.
Maru earns his first PacWest Weekly Top 10 honor of 2011 and the fifth in his career while Mutai takes his second selection this season (also fifth in his career). This is the first honor for Nevins.
