IRVINE, Calif. – PacWest athletes continued to turn in impressive individual performances with just three weeks left until the PacWest Championships in Kahuku, Hawai`i, with Fresno Pacific’s Patrick Kiprop and Academy of Art’s Hasna Kaarour being named the PacWest Runners of the Week.
 
For Kiprop, this is his second award already this year as he continues his impressive freshman campaign. Kaarour, on the other hand, has now earned this award four times in her decorated career at Academy of Art. That is tied for the sixth-most PacWest Runner of the Week awards in conference history.
 
Hawai`i Pacific’s Jona Bodirsky continued his strong 2021 season with another individual title. He won the HPU Sharks Invitational by a margin of over three minutes. In a race with 31 NCAA Division I runners, Academy of Art’s Saba Khvichava took second place with a time of 24:43.7 at the Sacramento State Invitational.
 
MEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Patrick Kiprop, Fresno Pacific
So. – Eldoret, Kenya
Kiprop won his second race in a row, beating a strong field at the NCAA Division II National Championships Preview in Saint Leo, Florida. He crushed the rest of the field with a time of 24:15.0, beating the next runner by half a minute. Xavier Smith joined Kiprop in the top-5 as Fresno Pacific took second place out of a field that included 13 teams.
 
WOMEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Hasna Kaarour, Academy of Art
GS. – Silverton, Ore.
Kaarour took 12^th place at the Sacramento State Invitational, finishing alongside her teammate Natalia Novak to help the Urban Knights take fourth place in a field of nine teams, including six NCAA Division I teams. The 2018 PacWest Newcomer of the Year and 2019 PacWest Champion finished with a time of 21:47.8. She was the top finisher among the 12 NCAA Division II runners.