Turtle Bay, Hawai'i -- New Pac-West Conference member Academy of Art University men's cross country team finished in five of the top seven spots this past weekend at the Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Championships.
 
1.    Edward Taragon Kibet      AAU        25:06
2.    Amos Maru                          AAU        25:27
3.    Daveson Marinich              AAU        25:44
4.    Simon Mutai                        AAU        26:06
7.    Kennedy Kurgat                  AAU        26:22  
    
Since AAU is not a full-fledged member of the NCAA, they were unable to qualify for team championships, but Edward "Killer" Kibet crossed the line first for Academy of Art in 25:06.

Academy of Art University had a very strong showing this past weekend and if this year's championship is any indication of the future for AAU, it should be a bright one.

For the teams that could qualify, Hawaii Pacific came away with the team championship at the Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Championships.  The Sea Warriors totaled 26 points on the 8K course at Turtle Bay amidst the rain and mud to outpace second place BYU–Hawaii by 17 points.

Dany Malley led the Sea Warriors with a fifth-place finish in 26:07.  Following BYU–Hawaii's 49 points, UH-Hilo came in with 56 and Notre Dame de Namur finished with 97.  Dixie State was fifth with 151, followed by Chaminade at 172 and Grand Canyon with 182.

The top seven runners from the qualifying teams were named to the All-Conference First Team.  Those receiving first team honors were Malley, Jens Munk Nielsen, and Andreas Schwab of Hawaii Pacific, Thomas Rivers Puzey and Brendan McMaster of BYU–Hawaii, and Joshua Enos and Garrett McCallister of UH-Hilo.

All-Conference Second Team honors went to Brian Lindberg and Kevin Enriques of Hawaii Pacific, Matthew Belliston and Brandon Krout of BYU–Hawaii, Stefano Barbaris and Diego Morales of UH-Hilo, and Arturo Huezo of Notre Dame de Namur.

By decision of the Athletic Directors of the Pacific West Conference last Spring, Academy of Art University cross country teams were invited to compete in this year's 2008 Conference Championship with the following provisos:  (1) There would be two scores to the meet- one in which the Academy runners were not scored, and a second in which they were given an official score by the League Commissioner. (2) The person who won the overall meet would be declared the Conference champion. (3) AAU could not qualify for All-Conference honors (given to the first 14 finishers) or the trophy for the team championship.

Results