2012 Bronco Invitational Complete Results

Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia & Brandon Davis)

Santa Clara, CA -- In the final meet before the Pacific West Conference Championships, the Academy of Art University cross country teams used momentum from personal records across the board at the 2012 Santa Clara Bronco Invitational/Open on Saturday morning. The Urban Knights were out at Baylands Park where freshman Clemens Kammer (2nd individually) and sophomore Temarius Walker (over 70-second lifetime best) earned the men a 12th place finish. Freshman Arianna Michaels' 14th place result led the women's team to 11th overall in the Open race while senior Jenny Bergren proudly represented ART U in the Invitational with a 7th place finish.

“This was our first race in October and I told the teams that this is when cross country really starts,” assistant coach Torrey Olson said. “Up to now, [meets] were dress rehearsals and now we start to practice the real thing. Today went well. We PR-ed across the board and that's an awesome thing whenever it happens.”

Michaels was among the upper tier for the entire race Saturday and she would turn in a new lifetime best of 18:38.7 on the 5k course. Her 14th place finish was also her best of the season and continued her steady improvement throughout this freshman year.

“We had a standout performance from Arianna Michaels,” Coach Olson said. “She had a 29-second PR in the 5,000 meters and her first race under that six-minute per mile barrier so I was really happy for her. She competed well the whole time.”

With senior Zoe Meyers not competing due to injury and Bergren in the Invitational, ART U needed strong races from position one through position five and sure enough the PRs rolled in. Senior Cassandra Schumacher delivered a 19:26.2 time which, beyond giving her 48th among competitors from four-year institutions, was less than a second behind her lifetime best. Not surprisingly, her top time took place at the Bronco Invite two years ago.

In her first collegiate race in two years, junior Sophia Ditty crossed the finish line with a solid 19:49.9 to take 64th. A current student at Academy of Art University and former runner at the University of San Francisco, Ditty recently joined the Urban Knights to compete in cross country. Behind Ditty, the junior tandem of Kylie Long and Heather Castro each had records of their own. Long's 20:45.4 (82nd) was a season-best and Castro's 21:44.5 (106th) served as her lifetime best. Freshman Alexandria Rupert added a PR of her own with more than six minutes off her first cross country race which came at Stanford two weeks ago.

Separate from the women's open competition which started the day, Bergren went up against the likes of Cal State San Marcos, New Mexico State, and Long Beach State in Saturday's Bronco Invitational. As she has done all season, Bergren stayed near the front of the pack and enjoyed a memorable performance.

The Orinda, CA native went for more than a 28-second improvement on the season-opening 5k at USF with her time of 17:19.5. Bergren would secure 7th place overall ahead of the top runners from Long Beach State, British Colombia, and others.

“Jenny Bergren had a very good race in the women's invitational section,” Coach Olson said. “She was sick all week and wasn't sure if she could put a good one together, but she definitely did with a lifetime cross country PR. It was good to see that too.”



A wave of six unattached runners led the way in the men's race, setting up a battle between Kammer and Dominican's Justin Valdez for the top placement. Though Valdez took 1st, Kammer still offered a dominant performance in which he set a new lifetime best of 25:41.8. The time was approximately a full 10 seconds better than his previous record.

Running alongside Kammer for much of the 8k race, sophomore Jack Nevins came in at 26:12.2 (13th place) with what was also a lifetime best. Nevins dropped over 10 seconds off the record time he previously had at last year's PacWest Championships.

For the impressive marks at the top, it was sophomore Temarius Walker who essentially stole the show Saturday with an incredible improvement. Walker, who is in his first year running collegiate cross country, knocked more than 70 seconds off his personal best which had come last week. Having steadily reduced his times and taking 60th at Bronco, Walker appears poised for strong results at the championship race and come track & field season according to Coach Olson.

“Temarius Walker, on the men's side, had a 77-second personal best coming off of last week where he's gotten better every week,” Coach Olson said. “He had 30s in his first race, 29s, 28s, and now 27:41. It's remarkable how he continues to improve. I can't wait to see what he does when he gets out on the track where he really belongs, but we've been really lucky to have him.”

Rounding out the remaining spots for ART U, sophomore Thomas Benson went for a new record of 29:33.5 (94th) in the fourth position while freshman Austin Nash turned in a 35:05.9 in his first competition for Academy of Art University. Junior Stephen Peevy also dramatically improved his mark from the season's opener, pushing across more than a four-minute reduction to his time Saturday.

As the season approaches its typical crescendo at the end of October, ART U now focuses all its efforts on the PacWest Cross Country Championships set to be hosted by Hawaii Pacific in Oahu, HI. This year's championship meet will take place the morning of Oct. 27 and Coach Olson is eagerly awaiting that grand finale.

“I told the team that until now, we've been working on the fundamentals and now those are starting to be in place so now we can work on the competition aspect and why we're really doing this in the first place,” Coach Olson said. “I'm really excited to see what we can do at PacWest. I think it'll be good stuff.”