2016 NCAA Division II National Championship Results
Men's 10k
SAINT LEO, Fla. – In a fitting end to the best men's cross country season in Academy of Art University history, the Urban Knights finished 11th overall, the highest ever by a Pacific West Conference team and four spots ahead of their projection, at the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday morning.
"Today was a true team effort," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "This feels like the culmination of something these guys set out for months ago. They have set a standard for future Urban Knights in this program that I couldn't be more proud of."
The Knights came in
No. 15 nationally, their highest ranking in program history after taking fourth at the
West Regional Championships two weeks prior, but looked to prove something even greater. As the sun dawned on The Abbey Course on the campus of Saint Leo University, ART U stepped to the line for its final 10k race of the season.
In the first third of the race,
PacWest Newcomer of the Year Gatien Airiau paced Academy of Art around 48th place, but halfway through,
PacWest Runner of the Year Joshua Thorson had made an incredible 43-spot jump to sit in 52nd overall. Fellow graduate student
Kris Everett was not far behind Thorson, rising 56 spots as the final 1.2k approached. Both would continue to climb down the stretch as Thorson, who at one point ran with each of his top four teammates, moved up six places to become an NCAA All-American in 40th overall (31:20.4) and Everett made an 11-spot jump for 55th (31:37.7).
"It's an honor to be an All-American, but I think above all it just adds to the fire to do something big in track," said Thorson. "I was really impressed with how this team rolled with the intense environment and stayed relaxed in the days and his before the race. We were all excited, but used that to focus us, rather than distract us. I'm incredibly proud of how this team followed through with the goals they set out to reach from the beginning of the season."
Graduate student
Pierre Fontanarosa, who led the Urban Knights at
Regionals, would make his own move in the second half of the race as well, passing more than 25 individuals for 62nd overall with a time of 31:42.4. Airiau, despite going out strong and falling a few places in the final 5k, still finished 72nd overall (one spot back of where Fontanarosa ended up in
2015) at 31:53.3 with an important contribution to the team score.
"I felt confident about we could do because of the team's approach," said Olson. "Even though it was Nationals, the preparation and mindset where the same we've had all year. The guys were very composed and knew what they needed to do."
Redshirt sophomore
Brett Bermudez pushed through a mostly uphill 10k course and warm conditions with 90 percent humidity, finishing 155th across the line with a 33:07.3 mark. PacWest Freshman of the Year
Marvin Thomas was the 26th highest finishing freshman in 187th (33:48.6) after a 11-place jump in the final 1.2k and graduate student
Kristian Martinez took 233rd overall.
Academy of Art combined to take 11th out of 32 teams for the highest finish to date by a PacWest program, once again besting conference rival California Baptist who came in at 15th overall (CBU's previous top marks at Nationals had been 22nd and 24th). On this occasion, however, Valentin Robert was the top individual from the conference at 24th overall, making him an All-American as well. ART U was actually one-hundredth of a second better than 10th-place Saginaw Valley in terms of total time, but a three-point difference in the scoring of the individuals put the Cardinals ahead.
Finishing first overall individually with an incredible performance was Missouri Southern's Vincent Kiprop (29:07.4) while Adams State earned the team title over Grand Valley State by 25 points after the Grizzlies' strong final 1.2k.
The Urban Knights now officially enter track & field season with their first indoor meet, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartan Invitational, on Jan. 13.
