2017 NCAA Division II West Regional Championships Results

MONMOUTH, Ore. – On a cold morning out at the Ash Creek Preserve for NCAA Division II West Regional Championships, both Academy of Art University Cross Country teams ran with a fire, pushing into the top seven on both sides. Highlights included sophomore Swann Phelippeau's seventh-place finish and graduate student Gatien Airiau's fifth-place result.

"The strength of the West Region on both genders was incredible this year and very exciting to be a part of," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson said. "Both teams gave a great effort today and represented ART U well."

The women were once again led by Phelippeau, the Pacific West Conference Newcomer of the Year, in seventh overall out of 209 runners with another lifetime-best 21:27.5. She posted the second-highest ART U women's Regional finish in program history. For her efforts, she was named All-Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). In 29th overall, junior Giulia McIsaac turned in a time of 21:57.2 while senior Jamie Morris followed in 63rd at 22:33.8.

Taking 70th overall was redshirt senior Madeline Dignadice with the best time of her career (22:41.1). Redshirt junior Chandler Johnson rounded out the ART U top five with an 84th-place finish (22:57). With junior Ashley Brown (6:10.9), the Urban Knights placed six runners inside the top 90.

Academy of Art (252), the second-highest PacWest Conference team to finish, placed seventh overall (their best placement in program history) behind Cal Poly Pomona (189) and ahead of Western Washington (257) and Humboldt State (292). Although it was No. 1 California Baptist (68) who won the race, the top individual came from No. 4 Alaska Anchorage (84), the team runner-up. The Seawolves' Caroline Kurgat placed first (20:26.1) while the Lancers' were represented with the second and third-place finishers.

On the men's side, Airiau went 30:08.4, cutting more than 27 seconds off his best 10k time to claim fifth individually which was the second-highest individual placement by an Urban Knight in program history. Graduate student Victor Moreau crossed the finish line in 23rd overall at 30:57.3 while graduate student Freddie Hessian was less than eight seconds behind his teammate in 31st (31:04.4). Both Airiau and Moreau were named All-Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Sophomore Marvin Thomas posted his own 10k career-best with a 31:28.1 mark, coming in at 43rd overall. Reminiscent of last year, redshirt junior Brett Bermudez claimed the final of ART U's top five spots, with another 10k personal-best (31:56.8) in 72nd overall.

The Urban Knights finished in sixth with 174 points, just two behind No. 16 Alaska Anchorage, but ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (178) and Western Washington (213). No. 4 Chico State (55) defended its team title, earning its fifth championship in the past sixth years. However, Western Oregon's David Ribich (29:49.2) won the individual race. No. 6 California Baptist finished runner-up to Chico State in the team placements.

"We will all be anxiously awaiting the NCAA's at-large qualifier announcement, but feel good knowing we left our best races of the season so far in Monmouth," said Olson. "Gas and Swann ran wonderful races up front, while our depth came through behind. Brett and Chandler have not been in our top five yet and big performances from them at the right time were huge for us. The pair of Jamie and Maddie, and trio of Victor, Freddie, and Marvin also really stepped up big when it counted."

The Urban Knights' men's and women's teams will be among the squads that could receive one of the eight at-large bids into the NCAA DII National Championships. Those selections will be announced by the NCAA at 2 p.m. PT on Monday.

For teams or individuals who do qualify, NCAA Division II Nationals will take place Nov. 18 at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Ind.