2016 NCAA Division II West Regional Championships Results
Men's 10k | Women's 6k

BILLINGS, Mont. – Academy of Art University men's cross country completed a historic day out at Amend Park for the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships on Saturday morning. Finishing fourth overall amid nationally ranked opponents, the Urban Knights became the first team to qualify for NCAA Division II Nationals, paced by graduate students Pierre Fontanarosa and Gatien Airiau both among the top 14. The women's squad, led by redshirt junior McKaela Christenson once again, posted their first collective team score in a Regional race on Saturday.

"I'm very proud of these guys for accomplishing something they've been talking about since the summer," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "It was a real team effort."

Though a chilly 37 degrees at the start, the men's 10k featured several strong performances including Fontanarosa's ninth-place finish accompanied by a time of 30:27.42. It was his second-fastest 10k time in an ART U uniform behind last year's Regional meet. Fontanarosa was followed by fellow Frenchman Airiau in 14th overall (30:35.9). The PacWest Newcomer of the Year would end up four spots ahead of No. 16 California Baptist's top finisher, Valentin Robert. Both Fontanarosa and Airiau were named All-Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) after finishing in the top 25.

Out of 168 runners, PacWest Runner of the Year graduate student Joshua Thorson crossed the finish line in 31st (31:03.95) while graduate student Kris Everett (35th, 31:13.29) and redshirt sophomore Brett Bermudez (67th, 32:11.07) each made critical contributions toward the Urban Knights' historic team score.

"The men exemplified cross country at its best today," said Olson. "Brett ran a career best race and kept us in the hunt. He took risk after risk in today's race and it paid off. Pierre and Gatien, for their part, stepped up in Josh's absence to contend with the top pack. Pierre notched the program's second highest finish ever in West Regional history, and did so in a very competitive year for the men's West Region. Kris, too, ran a huge improvement from where he was just a few weeks ago."

Ranked No. 5 in the country coming into the meet, Chico State won the team title after William Reyes, Kyle Medina, and Falco DiGiallonardo claimed the first three individual placements. The Wildcats were followed by No. 6 Alaska Anchorage and No. 9 Cal Poly Pomona before Academy of Art who, for the first time to date, topped PacWest Champion California Baptist, the fifth and final team to qualify for Regionals.

"The men were not in qualifying position into well into the final kilometer," said Olson. "They continued to fight and it wasn't until the very end that the opportunities we needed presented themselves. They ran without doubt, and I am very proud of that. These guys knew exactly what they wanted to do and the confidence they displayed in their ability to execute was awesome. I am incredibly excited for what they can accomplish in Florida in two weeks."

"We are all so happy and proud of what we've done," said Fontanarosa. "We've been talking about this race for so long and we reached our goal. We are now thinking about the success we can have at Nationals and we'll get ready for it."

The ART U women's team posted their first collective team score on Saturday with the tandem of Christenson and sophomore Chandler Johnson out in front. Competing in her third Regional meet, Christenson placed 68th with a time of 22:57.09 through the icy 6k course while Johnson was two spots behind in 70th (22:59.62) out of 204 runners in total.

Completing the top five Urban Knights qualifiers, junior Jamie Morris finished her first career Regional race in 82nd (23:12.1), senior Kaelyn Harbison completed her fourth Regional with a 96th place result (23:20.94), and sophomore Giulia McIsaac also debuted at 102nd overall (23:28.17).

Overall, the Academy of Art women finished 17th out of 30 teams with No. 7 Chico State earning the team title and No. 16 Simon Fraser edging No. 11 Alaska Anchorage for second place. None of those teams had the individual champion, Laura Aceves, who turned in a time of 20:55.95 for Cal State San Bernardino. No. 18 Point Loma was the highest placing team from the PacWest Conference and ART U was fourth in that regard behind No. 9 California Baptist, and Fresno Pacific.

For the men's team, the season's final race will be at NCAA DII Nationals taking place on Nov. 19 at Abbey Course in St. Leo, Florida.