2015 SF State Invitational Results
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San Francisco, CA – Powered by the lively support of a large Academy of Art contingent, the Urban Knights men's and women's cross country teams competed in the SF State Invitational out at Golden Gate Park Friday afternoon. On the men's side, junior
Valentin Pepiot claimed first overall by a six-second margin and the ART U men took sixth while the tandem of redshirt freshman
McKaela Christenson and sophomore
Kaelyn Harbison finished fourth and fifth respectively to lead the ART U women's squad to third overall.
Pepiot was in great form the entire race, battling with Luis Luna (unattached) and a host of Southern Oregon runners at the front of the pack. In the home stretch, the Frenchman used an incredible kick to vault into first place, posting a strong 24:53.1 in the end. He was able to enjoy the moment with the excited crowd, high-fiving supporters as he crossed the finish line. Pepiot wound up a full 11 seconds in front of the next NCAA Division II runner.
Backing the leader, freshman
Mack Marbas came in 21st overall with a time of 25:39.6 and freshman
Chris Costa followed in 61st (26:39.7). Shortly beyond was sophomore
Logan Means in 66th at 26:45.4 along with freshman
Brett Bermudez in 73rd. Freshman
Austin Murray had the best race of his career thus far, taking 108th with a time of 27:44.5. The men's squad finished sixth behind SF State, but ahead of St. Mary's, Sacramento State, and others.
Much like ART U's last meet at Golden Gate Park, the Knights' home training course, it was the dynamic duo of Christenson and Harbison who paced the team. Both remained in the front group for the duration of the 6k course and despite a bit of separation down the final straightaway, still finished in consecutive order. Christenson went 21:55.5 for her new collegiate best at that distance. Harbison's time of 22:14.7 was also a new personal record for 6k and came with a strong kick at the end.
Redshirt freshman
Ericka Taylor came through with a brilliant performance for 18th overall at 22:44.3. She was followed by junior
Elizabeth Khuu who crossed the line at 23:01.8 in 27th place. Freshman
Jamie Morris was the final Knights' finisher in 50th overall with a time that showed significant improvement two weeks removed from her first collegiate 6k at Stanford. As a team, ART U claimed third place out of 16 teams, sitting behind Humboldt State and Cal State Stanislaus, but in front of St. Mary's and SF State.
Academy of Art will be back in action on Oct. 18 at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational, ART U's final regular season meet before the PacWest Conference Championships.
