Rifflard Is Runner of the Week, Nevins Honored

Phoenix, AZ -- Another ART U debut. Another Runner of the Week.

Delivering a strong performance in a NCAA Division I-heavy 2013 Stanford Invitational, Nicolas Rifflard was selected as the Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week following his first race for Academy of Art University.

Rifflard, the highest finishing runner from the PacWest, guided the Urban Knights to 11th overall with his 34th place individual finish on the 8k course.

Battling it out with a pair of runners from Fresno State and a duo from Chico State as well as Dominican's top competitor, Rifflard ended up posting a 25:56 which tied him with Fresno's Danny Vartanian and the Wildcats' Alex McGuirk. Rifflard turned in a 5:11 average pace time.

"Nicolas got into his first collegiate cross country race and he looked great out there," associate head coach Torrey Olson said. "In the past, I've seen Nicolas run middle distance track races, but he showed he's a competitor in all distances. As he builds momentum this season, I'm excited to see what he can do in November."

Additionally, Jack Nevins was put into the PacWest Final 5 after finishing 92nd among all runners from four-year schools. He would complete the 8k course in 26:46 while delivering an averaged pace time of 5:23.

This is the first career weekly honor for Rifflard while Nevins, of the 2012 All-PacWest Second Team, picks up his fourth career weekly award.