PacWest Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week & Final 5
PacWest Men's Cross Country Freshman of the Week
PacWest Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week
PacWest Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Week

Phoenix, AZ – It was a clean sweep of the weekly Pacific West Conference awards after ART U Cross Country offered its best collective performance at the SF State Invitational this past Friday. Nicolas Rifflard and Arianna Michaels each earned Runner of the Week honors, Austin Esposito and Kaelyn Harbison were each named Freshman of the Week, and Jack Nevins added a place on the Final 5. The conference announced the honors on Monday, Oct. 14, for races held Oct. 7-13.

Rifflard, who also claimed a Runner of the Week on Sept. 30, was the top finisher among all runners from four-year schools. He took third overall in the field finishing behind a runner from a local community college and an unattached participant. Rifflard completed the 8k course in a time of 25:21.3 to finish more than seven seconds ahead of the next Division II runner in the race. It was his new personal best, dropping a little over 30 seconds off his debut at Stanford Invitational.

Esposito finished 18th among all runners from four-year schools with a new personal best that was nearly a full minute lower than his time at Stanford. Esposito completed the course in a time of 26:36.5, helping the Urban Knights achieve their third-place team finish.

Jack Nevins finished eighth among all runners from four-year schools, posting a new personal record of 26:00.7 that was over 10 seconds below his previous top mark at the 2012 Bronco Invitational.

"On the men's side, we had PRs across the board," associate head coach Torrey Olson said. "Any time that happens, it's a very good thing. We're excited and we feel the momentum of the season is starting to build. We're putting some pieces together from the training and it's good to see that out there. I still think there's some more especially for the people new to collegiate cross country, but it's a step so we're really excited about this. It's definitely our best result so far for the season."

Michaels finished 12th among runners from four-year schools to lead Academy of Art. Michaels reeled off a time of 23:00.3 on the 6k course, recording a sub-4:00 kilometer during the race. It was her lowest time of the year.

Harbison finished 15th among runners from four-year schools, delivering a time of 23:07.4 while posting a sub-four-minute kilometer during the race like Michaels. She would knock nearly two full minutes off her last 6k mark.

"Arianna ran well and for [both she and Kaelyn], compared to how the season's gone, you could really see them come on," Coach Olson said. "They were in the race and Kaelyn ran a huge PR; any time you're taking off more than a minute, that's pretty awesome. But more importantly, she was competing and in there the whole way. She's making big strides so we're excited to see how that goes when we get to conference."

Overall, this is the second Runner of the Week honor for Rifflard, Nevins' fifth in his career, Michaels' first career Runner of the Week award, and the first for both Esposito and Harbison.