2009 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships Men's Individual & Team Results
San Francisco, Calif. -- Sophomores
Amos Maru and
Daveson Marindich took first and second place overall to help the Urban Knights earn their first league title at the Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships held at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow on Saturday Morning. All five Knights finishers placed in the top seven slots overall.
In the culmination of an impressive season for the Academy of Art University men's cross country team, Maru and Marindich led for the entire 8k race and Maru's time of 25:17.0 was a full 30 seconds ahead of any other competitor including Marindich. It was the second-best time for Maru on an 8k course this season.
Second place was awarded to
Marindich, but he too completed the race more than 20 seconds in front of the third-place finisher.
Marindich posted a time of 25:48.8 and it was the top placement of his career as an Urban Knight.
"Before everything was totaled, I thought it was going to be a nice close one and it was nowhere near close," Head Coach Victor Hudson said. "To me, it was more than a dominating performance. It was a big shock to me they did that well. Amos and Daveson led the whole way and it was amazing. I don't even know what else to say."
Although Brendan McMaster from BYU-Hawaii finished in third, it was more AAU red and black in the fourth slot overall with sophomore Simon Mutai (26:09.7) crossing just five tenths of a second behind the Seasider. It was a bit of déjà vu for Mutai who took fourth last year in the conference championships with a time of 26:06. The sixth and seventh spots also went to Academy of Art University in the Knights' dominating performance as sophomore Kennedy Kurgat finished with a time of 26:13.8 and junior Geoffrey Cheruiyot posted a time of 26:17.0 (a new personal best).
Sophomores Shawn Daut and Mark Bretan also participated in the race for Academy of Art. Their scores were not counted as they did not finish in the top five, but Daut took 23rd overall with a time of 27:24.8 and Bretan came in 37th with a time of 29:27.4. Both were top placements this year for each of the Knights.
"To be honest, I was a little nervous because the guys told me at the beginning of the season, 'Don't worry about [the championship],'" Hudson said. "To watch them dominate that whole thing was unbelievable. And I believe that if everyone had been healthy, we would have been top six easy. This year it counts and the guys were definitely pumped up to do what they did."
As a team, AAU earned 20 points to finish first overall, well in front of BYU-Hawaii and its 51 points. The Seasiders challenged the Urban Knights by having three runners in the top 10, but Academy of Art was simply too much to handle. In terms of total time, AAU's squad (128:46) was a full three minutes ahead of BYU-H (133:13). Hawaii Pacific took third and Hawaii-Hilo placed fourth with each school putting one competitor in the top 10 as well.
All five of the Urban Knights' finishers, Maru, Marindich, Mutai, Kurgat, and Cheruiyot, were named to the All-PacWest First Team for their top times.
