2016 Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships Results
Men's 8k | Women's 6k

KEA'AU, Hawaii – Weathering tough muddy conditions on Saturday morning, Academy of Art University emerged from the Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships with the fifth individual male winner and eight total All-PacWest Team honorees across both genders. Graduate student Joshua Thorson claimed the title while leading the No. 24 Urban Knights to second overall and redshirt junior McKaela Christenson was All-PacWest Third Team to highlight the third-place women following races through jungle-like courses at Kamehameha Schools Hawaii.

"The conditions were tough today," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson said. "I'm impressed with how many we had who stepped up to give their best effort of the season through the mud, rain, and slop."

Covered in mud after just one loop of the 8k course, the men's race saw Thorson and graduate student Gatien Airiau among a five-man pack begin to separate at the front early. In a much-anticipated matchup, Thorson and No. 17 California Baptist's Valentin Robert crossed the finish line first and second, but more than an 18-second gap separated the two as ART U's leader posted a time of 26:51.

"The team ran really tough today and executed our plan almost perfectly," said Thorson. "CBU had a fantastic race so to get second today was a great performance. It was awesome to finish and know I did the best I could for the team, scoring one point and setting us up for success. The conditions were very slow and technical; you had to keep your feet under you and focus on running efficient, but it made for a memorable race."

"Josh showed he will be a force at the regional and national meets," said Olson. "He is continuing to improve bit by bit and it's going to be fun to watch."

Joining Thorson as an All-PacWest First Team selection, Airiau took third overall with a 27:22.3 mark. Among the All-PacWest Second Team honorees were graduate students Kris Everett and Pierre Fontanarosa who finished 11th and 12th respectively. Everett turned in a time of 28:13.7 while Fontanarosa came across the line as the clock showed 28:18.2. The highest finishing freshman was none other than Marvin Thomas whose 28:57.5 earned him 21st overall.

The 19-point difference in team scores did not reflect how close the battle was for the team title as just over a second separated California Baptist's total time from second-place ART U.

On the women's side, Christenson made it three consecutive top 20 finishes at the conference championship in her three years competing for Academy of Art. She paced the Urban Knights with a 17th-place finish, clocking in at 24:56 for All-PacWest Third Team honors.

Several of Christenson's teammates were not far behind her as sophomore Giulia McIsaac took 20th (25:07), freshman Jessica Wunschmann was 21st (25:09.2), and senior Kaelyn Harbison crossed the line in 22nd (25:09.7). McIsaac and Wunschmann were both awarded spots on the All-PacWest Third Team as well. Sophomore Chandler Johnson (42nd, 26:29.6) rounded out the top five finishers for the Knights.

"The women had a few struggles, but had teammates right there to make up for it and they were rewarded with our highest finish since 2010," said Olson.

The women's team champion was No. 8 CBU after not just the top five, but nine total runners earned All-PacWest honors. Anett Somogyi represented the Lancers as the race's victor with a time of 23:08.4.

The postseason continues for Academy of Art with NCAA Division II West Regionals taking place Nov. 5 at Amend Park in Billings, Montana.