2014 Stanford Invitational Results - Men | Women

Palo Alto, CA – Pit against elite NCAA Division I talent on Saturday morning, the Urban Knights Cross Country teams had its share of highlights with junior Valentin Pepiot and redshirt freshman McKaela Christenson each finishing in the upper tier of the Stanford Invitational. Pepiot's first 8k on American soil saw him speed his way into sixth place among a host of DI athletes.

"We wanted to experience a competitive environment and definitely had that," head coach Torrey Olson said. "Our team learned a lot and became better prepared for the NCAA postseason. I'm proud of the team and especially our frontrunners for going out aggressively against tough Division I competition."

Pepiot excelled in an 8k race loaded with dominant collegiate runners, using a 4:47 pace to capture sixth in a time of 23:43. He was wedged in between UC Santa Barbara's Bryan Guijarro and UC Riverside's Seth Totten, but wound up the first NCAA Division II competitor to finish. The next closest was Chico State's top finisher in 14th place overall.

The Knights' second finisher was freshman Mack Marbas who claimed 179th overall with a time of 25:48. He was followed by sophomores Austin Esposito at 25:57 and Logan Means (26:32) as well as freshmen Brett Bermudez (26:40) and Chris Costa (26:44). Freshmen Maurilio Sanchez, Gage Benner, and Austin Murray rounded out the ART U men's field.

By non-Division I scoring, Academy of Art finished 11th overall, defeating PacWest opponents Notre Dame de Namur and Dominican among others. The men came into Saturday having achieved their highest USTFCCCA West Region ranking; at eighth overall.

Like Pepiot, Christenson stepped into the upper echelon with a 35th place result and a time of 22:02 over the 6k course. She was the second highest finisher from NCAA DII and found herself among DI talent from Cal Poly and Long Beach State. This was also her first collegiate 6k.

Among the top 100, sophomore Kaelyn Harbison toed the finish line in a time of 22:50 to take 93rd overall. Junior Elizabeth Khuu (23:39), sophomore Madeline Dignadice (23:42), and redshirt freshman Ericka Taylor (23:50) were separated by less than 20 spots while Jamie Morris and Emily McCarty completed the seven-person contingent for the ART U women.

The women claimed eighth overall behind Azusa Pacific, but ahead of Seattle Pacific, Cal State Stanislaus, and nine others.

Cross Country looks ahead to a return to Golden Gate Park for the San Francisco State Invitational on Oct. 10. Come out to support your Urban Knights by riding the FAN BUS! Sign up HERE!