2015 All-Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country Awards
2015 All-Pacific West Conference Women's Cross Country Awards

IRVINE, Calif. -- Leading the ART U men's cross country team with first and third individual finishes at the Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships, senior Valentin Pepiot and graduate student Pierre Fontanarosa were bestowed the conference's highest honors in Tuesday's announcement of the All-PacWest Teams. Additionally, Kris Everett, McKaela Christenson, and Kaelyn Harbison received official post-season awards for their performances at the championship meet.

As the winner of the PacWest Championship by a healthy margin, Pepiot was named PacWest Runner of the Year and led the All-PacWest First Team while Fontanarosa captured PacWest Newcomer of the Year honors with an All-PacWest Team selection too. Graduate student Kris Everett, the seventh place finisher in the PacWest Championship, joined his teammates on the All-PacWest First Team as well.

Making the women's team were sophomore McKaela Christenson and junior Kaelyn Harbison from Academy of Art. As the 13th place finisher, Christenson earned All-PacWest Second Team while Harbison came in 18th for a spot on the All-PacWest Third Team.

A vote by the PacWest head coaches determined the individual honors and the All-PacWest teams were determined by the results of the PacWest Championship meet. The top-21 finishers received All-PacWest honors, with seven runners on each team.

Pepiot, the 2014 PacWest Newcomer of the Year, enjoyed an outstanding senior season. He won the PacWest Championship Individual title with a time of 24:29.7, besting his third-place performance from the previous year by more than 30 seconds. A two-time PacWest Runner of the Week (Sept. 15, Sept. 29), Pepiot placed in the top-five in each of his four races during the regular season. He is the first Academy of Art male to be the PacWest's top runner since Amos Maru (2009-11).
 
Fontanarosa was a consistent No. 2 behind Pepiot in the ART U lineup all season. He finished third at the PacWest Championship (24:37.9), helping the Urban Knights finish for the second-consecutive season. He posted a PR at the SF State Invitational (25:45.3), finishing 35th.

"These guys worked so hard this year and ran tough races at PacWest," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "These honors are well-deserved and I'm proud of these two."

Everett completed the strong Academy of Art trio up front in the entirety of the PacWest Championship. He would claim seventh overall at the meet while running an 8k season-best time of 25:13.4.

Following up her 2014 PacWest Freshman of the Year campaign, Christenson was the Urban Knights' top finisher throughout the season. She began her postseason quest with a 13th place finish at the conference championship, crossing the finish line with a 6k season-best 22:04.8 for the All-PacWest Second Team honor.

Harbison could be found not far behind her teammate, coming in 18th overall. She completed the 6k course with a time of 22:27.8 for her third career All-PacWest honor.

Academy of Art sends these five individuals along with a full men's squad to NCAA West Regionals this year hosted by Western Oregon in at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 7.