2016 Capital Cross Challenge Results
Men's 8k | Women's 6k
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Out at Haggin Oaks Golf Course for their third meet of the 2016 season, ART U Cross Country battled not only several NCAA Division I schools but Pacific West Conference rival California Baptist as well in the Capital Cross Challenge hosted by Sacramento State. Graduate students
Joshua Thorson and
Gatien Airiau both placed among the top 14 to lead the men to a sixth place finish while sophomore
Chandler Johnson and redshirt junior
McKaela Christenson paced the women to 16th overall.
"The teams faced great competition and the meet served its purpose as a test run for conference, Regionals, and Nationals," said director of track & field/cross country
Torrey Olson. "The men beat some excellent teams, came away hungry for conference, and both squads learned something important about how we take our next step forward."
Thorson led for a portion of the 8k race and pushed into fourth overall in the finale. He was less than 20 seconds off the individual victor, posting a season-best 23:49.1 significantly lower than his 25:10.5 in his Academy of Art debut back on
Sept. 3. Airiau was also more than a minute below his first mark, going 24:15.3 for 14th overall ahead of a collection of the top three finishers from UC Berkeley.
In 34th overall, graduate student
Pierre Fontanarosa was the third qualifier for the Urban Knights at 24:45.4 followed by fellow graduate student
Kris Everett in 63rd (25:09.7). Completing the ART U top five was freshman
Marvin Thomas in 115th with his own 8k season-best of 25:58.2.
By the race's end, Academy of Art found itself sixth overall behind California Baptist in fourth and Loyola Marymount in fifth. The Knights' collective 185 score was well ahead of UC Davis' 227 in seventh. The 8k itself was won by Chico State's William Reyes (23:29.8) as the Wildcats claimed the team title.
On the women's side, Johnson battled former teammate Pauline Mandel of Long Beach State down the stretch, finishing less than a second behind in 82nd with a time of 22:18.4. Christenson was next for Academy of Art in 96th overall with a time of 22:34.4.
The third finisher for the Knights was junior
Jamie Morris in 102nd (22:40.7) then senior
Kaelyn Harbison followed in 107th (22:44.2) and sophomore
Giulia McIsaac rounded out the five in 117th (23:03.0).
"Marvin, Jamie, Kris, Gatien, and Josh had races in which they took significant steps forward and I'm very proud of those performances and what they contributed to our team's performance," said Olson.
Just a single point off Cal State Northridge in 15th overall, ART U picked up the 16th place finish ahead of University of the Pacific (17th), Long Beach State (18th), and Pepperdine (19th). The race's individual winner was Arizona State's Chelsey Albertson (20:20.8) who led the Sun Devils to a healthy margin of victory in the team scoring.
For the third time this season, the Urban Knights will once again be in action in their own back yard for the SF State Golden Gate Park Invitational on Friday, Oct. 7. The men are scheduled to run at 3:30 p.m. followed by the women at 4:15 p.m.
