KAHUKU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University junior Jona Bodirsky finished eighth individually in lead the Sharks at the 2021 PacWest Conference Championships at the Kahuku Golf Course.
 
Bodirsky, from Rettingheim, Germany, ran the men's 8-kilometer course in 25:41.2 to place eight and earn All-PacWest Conference second team honors. He was the highest placing runner, men or women, from one of the Hawai'i PacWest institutions, and the only one earning All-PacWest honors.
 
Bodirsky led the Sharks men to a seventh place finish with 187 points.
 
Fresno Pacific, who took the top three spots in the men's competition, won the men's team championship with 38 points, as Azusa Pacific second with 51 points and Biola third with 60 points. FPU's Patrick Kiprop won the PacWest Individual Championship with a time of 24:38.2, as teammates Xavier Smith was second in 24:50.2 and Bryan Banuelos third in 25:09.7.
 
Senior Karen Corona-Perez of Ocracoke, N.C./Ocracoke led the Sharks women an eighth place finish with 220 points. Corona-Perez covered the women's 6K course in 24:57.8 to place 35th overall.
 
Academy of Art, led by PacWest Individual Champion Natalia Novak who won the race in 22:15.1, took the team championship with 42 points, edging out Biola who scored 43 in second and third place Azusa Pacific with 82 points. Biola's Lynette Ruiz was second in 22:19.2 with ART U's Hasna Kaarour third in 22:31.5.
 
The next HPU man after Bodirsky was junior Troy Oshimo of Honolulu/Kalani who finished 53rd in 30:10.4, with senior David Rutto of Eldoret, Kenya was 55th in 30:45.2, sophomore Kent Glover of Trussville, Ala./Hewitt-Trussville was 56th in 31:17.3, freshman Logan Thomas of Tustin, Calif./Tustin 59th in 32:15.9 and graduate student Nicholas Downing of Garrettsville, Ohio/Garfield 63rd in 34:15.8. Redshirt Freshman Joseph Moran of Union City, Calif./Logan started the race, but did not finish.
 
The women suffered not quite halfway through the race when Shark super senior Robyn Kaltenbrunn of Johannesburg, South Africa came off the course after a medical issue and could not continue. The second HPU runner across was senior Maggie Meeds of Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage who covered the course in 26:29.0, followed by sophomore Alyssa D'Arpa of North Potomac, Md./Wooton in 51st at 26:50.8, freshman Emma Dominguez of Whittier, Calif./California HS in 58th at 27:15.2, junior McKay Guckenberg of Eureka, Mont./Lincoln County in 64th at 28:07.0, freshman Jacquelyn McEvoy of North Berwick, Maine/Noble in 65th at 28:11.4, and senior Evelyn Macias of Keller, Texas/Timber Creek in 69th at 30:05.4.
 
Only postseason running remains for the Sharks. HPU is scheduled to participate in the NCAA Division II West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore.