Azusa Pacific, the Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country champions, added a few more plaques to their trophy case today with the announcement of the 2024 awards.
The Cougars have the Coach of the Year in
Jebreh Harris, the Runner of the Year in
Jared Wright and the Newcomer of the Year in
Kyle Galinis. Fresno Pacific has the Freshman of the Year in
Devin Ibarra.
The awards are voted on by the league's coaches at the conclusion of the entire season, taking into account the conference, regional and national results.
Azusa Pacific head coach
Jebreh Harris earned the Coach of the Year in his first year at the helm of the Cougar program. Expectations were high for the defending PacWest champs, and Harris helped the Cougars deliever with their second consecutive league title, along with a fifth place NCAA West Regional finish and 19th place standing at the national championships. It was the top finish at the 2024 NCAA's for a PacWest team. Harris had three all-west region runners and the top two finishers at the PacWest Championships. Harris came to Azusa Pacific this year after spending the past four years as the assistant coach for distance and cross country at USC.
One of APU's all-region selections and the PacWest Conference champ is
Jared Wright, the conference Runner of the Year. Wright wrapped up a brilliant career this fall, having raced his way four times to All-Conference honors--the first two years at Dominican and the last two at Azusa Pacific. This year, Wright blitzed the 10K course at the Great Park in Irvine in 23:51, crossing the finish line with nine seconds to spare over teammate Felix Perrier. That made Wright the first-ever APU PacWest individual champ, and helped lead his squad to the team title. The Colorado native would go on to post the top PacWest finish at the West Region Championships (3rd) and had the top race among conference runners at the NCAA national championships. Earlier this season, he won the Irvine Invitational.
Wright's new teammate
Kyle Galinis was selected by the conference coaches at the Newcomer of the Year. Galinis was a consistent top 3-5 finisher for the Cougars all season long, helping them to the PacWest title with a 15th place finish and Third Team All-PacWest honors. Galinis, a transfer from Chabot JC, ran the 10K course in 24:37, just missing 14th place (and All-PacWest Second Team designation) by one second. The junior would go on to help pace APU to a fifth place showing at the NCAA West Regionals and a 19th place standing at the NCAA National Championships.
Fresno Pacific's
Devin Ibarra was the coach's choice for Freshman of the Year. Ibarra was the second Fresno Pacific runner to cross the finish line at the PacWest Championships, running the course in 25:18 for a 26th place finish. The central valley native (Visalia) ran in the top half of the field at the NCAA Regional meet in Montana, finishing in 60th place. Earlier this season, he was 29th at The Master's Invitational.
In addition to Wright, three other runners are four-time All-PacWest runners--APU's
Riley Burns and
Dider Sandoval, along with
Biola's Jerry Baltzer (2023 PacWest champ). It was the third time for Azusa's
Felix Perrier (this years runner-up) to earn an All-PacWest honor, and the second time for
Westmont's Zola Sokhela, Biola's Melt von Molendorff, Concordia's Noah Plaza, APU's Michael Schneider, Westmont's Bryce Gardhouse and
Concordia's Colin Bervig.
| 2024 ALL-PACWEST MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS |
| Runner of the Year |
Newcomer of the Year |
Freshman of the Year |
Coach of the Year |
Jared Wright
Azusa Pacific |
Kyle Galinis
Azusa Pacific |
Devin Ibarra
Fresno Pacific |
Jebreh Harris
Azusa Pacific |
| 2024 ALL-PACWEST MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM |
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown/Previous School |
| FIRST TEAM |
| Jared Wright*** |
Azusa Pacific |
Sr. |
Castle Rock, Colo. / Dominican |
| Felix Perrier** |
Azusa Pacific |
Jr. |
Grenoble, France / Grenoble |
| Melt von Molendorff* |
Biola |
So. |
Cape Town, South Africa / Univ. of S. Africa |
| Riley Burns*** |
Azusa Pacific |
Sr. |
San Diego, Calif. / Maranatha HS |
| Zola Sokhela* |
Westmont |
Sr. |
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| Aidan Tomasini |
Biola |
Sr. |
Aromas, Calif. / Aptos HS |
| Noah Plaza* |
Concordia |
Jr. |
Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field HS |
| SECOND TEAM |
|
|
|
|
| Michael Schneider* |
Azusa Pacific |
Jr. |
San Ramon, Calif. / Dougherty HS |
| Bryce Gardhouse* |
Westmont |
Sr. |
Simi Valley, Calif. / Moorpark JC |
| Jerry Baltzer*** |
Biola |
Sr. |
Whittier, Calif. / La Serna HS |
| Fernando Aguirre |
Concordia |
Grad. |
Whittier, Calif. / California HS |
| Jacob Shirota |
Biola |
Jr. |
Placentia, Calif. / Troy HS |
| Charlie Bailey |
Biola |
Sr. |
Boring, Ore. / Sam Barlow HS |
| Dider Sandoval*** |
Azusa Pacific |
Sr. |
Glendora, Calif. / Glendora HS |
|
|
|
|
| THIRD TEAM |
| Kyle Galinis |
Azusa Pacific |
Jr. |
Newark, Calif. / Chabot JC |
| Colin Bervig* |
Concordia |
Sr. |
Colorado Springs, Colo. / Liberty HS |
| Eric Perez |
Azusa Pacific |
Sr. |
Apple Valley, Calif. / Victory Valley College |
| Rouxan le Roux |
Biola |
Grad. |
Pretoria, South Africa / High School Menlopark |
| Spencer Handorf |
Concordia |
So. |
Villa Park, Calif. / Villa Park HS |
| Avery Erickson |
Azusa Pacific |
Fr. |
Seattle, Wash. / Nathan Hale HS |
| Jansen Gillig |
Fresno Pacific |
So. |
Stockton, Calif. / Lincoln HS |
*Previous All-PacWest Selection