2014 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championship Results LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Amid countless puddles and wet course conditions at Tom Sawyer Park, junior
Valentin Pepiot battled through his first NCAA Division II National Championship race on Saturday morning to emerge as the top finisher from the Pacific West Conference. Pepiot's 70th place finish was not high enough to earn All-American honors, but did put him in the upper tier in a competition among 245 of the country's top runners.
"I'm proud of Val for overcoming a midseason injury and staying focused," said head coach
Torrey Olson. "It was not everything he hoped to accomplish, but I think he has learned and grown a lot this fall. Even though he wanted more, he still represented ART U well with a strong perfromance."
Racing through a 10k course that featured areas shrouded in forest and some undulating hills, Pepiot found himself 85th overall through the first 1800m. Shortly thereafter at 5000m, he had jumped up to 77th and continued to improve as he reached 65th four miles in. Pepiot checked in at 69th through 8600m, however, then crossed the finish line 70th overall with a time of 32:06.6.
The Besançon, France native was the 10th finisher from the West Region, an improvement from his 15th place mark at
Regionals two weeks ago. The next closest runner to Pepiot from the PacWest Conference was Abdel-Samad El Hajjami from California Baptist who took 89th overall.
"I'm thrilled for the future and this young man with great things in front of him," said Olson.
The individual winner of the 10k race was Tabor Stevens of Adams State for the second consecutive year. He finished with a mark of 30:02.0, which was over 17 seconds in front of second place. Stevens led Adams State to another dominating team finish for the title, earning the victory by more than 58 points.
The NCAA National Championship meet may signify the end of the 2014 ART U Cross Country campaign, but all Academy of Art distance athletes are back to work for the indoor track & field season beginning Jan. 16-17 at Boise State's Ed Jacoby Invite & Multi.
