Azusa Pacific won the 2023 title with a scorching 25 points.
Azusa Pacific won the 2023 title with a scorching 25 points.

Men's Cross Country

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Azusa Pacific cruised to its first PacWest title in 2023 with a stunning 25 points. Biola is poised to reclaim the title. Who will win on Saturday?

IRVINE, Calif. -- For the first time, the Pacific West Conference Cross Country Championships will be held at Great Park in Irvine, scheduled for 9 a.m. this Saturday, October 26.

A new course and new location. Will we also have a new champion?

Azusa Pacific won its first-ever PacWest men's title last fall in Fresno after years of being oh-so-close. The Cougars not only won, they had one of the most dominant performances in conference history with a sizzling 25 points. APU would go on to finish second at the NCAA West Regionals and were tenth at the NCAA National Championships. 

But Biola, who had won three of the four previous PacWest championships, is eager to reclaim their title. The Eagles have had an excellent semester, and are currently ranked third in the NCAA West Region and 15th nationally. The Cougars are listed fifth in the region and 27th in the national poll.

In rolling to the 2023 title, Azusa Pacific had five of the top seven runners in the race (places 3-7), and Cougars also crossed the finish line at places 9, 11, 15, and 16. Five of that group of nine runners are back in 2024-- Felix Perrier (3rd), Riley Burns (7th), Jared Wright (5th), Dider Sandoval (9th PacWest), and Michael Schneider (16th PacWest). Graduated is PacWest Runner of the Year Juan Diego Castro and much decorated Nixon Korir.

Biola will counter with an experienced pack. Melt von Molendorff, the 2023 PacWest Freshman of the Year, has had an excellent Fall season and will contend for the individual title. The Eagles return the 2023 champion Jerry Baltzer, along with Charlie Bailey (22nd), Ryan Todd (24th), Ben Sonneland (25th) and Jeremiah Echeverria (29th). In his rookie year, von Molendorff was 14th in Fresno. 

On paper, the rest of the teams will be chasing the Cougars and Eagles. Fresno Pacific has one of the top runners in the conference in Rodney Chemalmal, who finished eighth last year. Host Concordia has Juan Sebastian Garcia (13th) and Noah Plaza (17th), along with Fernando Aguirre, who has had an excellent Fall season.

Westmont also returns All-PacWest runners in Zola Sokhela (10th) and Bryce Gardhouse (12th). Sokhela won the last two PacWest Runner of the Week awards, most recently running 23:54 and finishing second at the Charger Invite in Alabama.

Vanguard, Dominican, Academy of Art, Jessup, Hawai`i Pacific and Chaminade will be running to place. Adding Vanguard and Jessup, new to the PacWest this season, grows the field to 11 teams and over 100 runners. 

For more information, including links to the live video stream on the PacWest Network, live results (via Finished Results), conference record book and more, click here.