2015 All-PacWest Men's Cross Country
IRVINE, Calif. – The 2015 PacWest Men’s Cross Country awards were announced Tuesday, following a vote by the league’s head coaches. Academy of Art’s
Valentin Pepiot was named PacWest Runner of the Year and
Pierre Fontanarosa was named PacWest Newcomer of the Year. CBU’s
Ken Kipkorir was named PacWest Freshman of the Year and
Ben Gall was named PacWest Coach of the Year.
Pepiot, the 2014 PacWest Newcomer of the Year, enjoyed an outstanding senior season. He won the PacWest Championship Individual title with a time of 24:29.7, besting his third-place performance from the previous year by more than 30 seconds. A two-time PacWest Runner of the Week, Pepiot placed in the top-five in each of his four races during the regular season. He is the first Academy of Art male to be the PacWest’s top runner since Amos Maru (2009-11).
Fontanarosa was a consistent No. 2 behind Pepiot in the Art U lineup all season. He finished third at the PacWest Championship (24:37.9), helping the Urban Knights finish for the second-consecutive season. He posted a PR at the SF State Invitational (25:45.3), finishing 35
th.
Kipkorir had a solid debut season for the PacWest champion Lancers. He was the first freshman across the line at the PacWest Championship, coming in eighth with a time of 25:19.8. He took sixth place at the CBU Invitational (25:29.7) and 13
th at the Lancer Invitational (19:33.1), his first collegiate race.
Gall won his fourth-consecutive PacWest Coach of the Year honor after leading CBU to its unprecedented fifth-consecutive PacWest Championship title. Nine CBU runners earned All-PacWest honors this season, including four in the top-10 at the PacWest Championship race. CBU is ranked fourth in the region and 14
th in the nation heading into the NCAA West Regional race on Nov. 7.
The All-PacWest teams were determined by the results of the PacWest Championship meet. The top-21 finishers received All-PacWest honors, with seven runners on each team.