The 2025 Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country Championships will be held at the Hawai`i Country Club for the first time, this coming Saturday (Oct. 25).
A new course with new challenges. Will there be a new champion?
Individualy, there will be a first-time winner for sure. Azusa Pacific's Jared Wright, the 2024 race champ, has graduated. Last October in Irvine, Wright helped lead the Cougars to their second straight team championship with a 29-44 edge over Biola, while cruising to the finish line first by a dominent nine seconds in 23:51.
The Cougars have a new title contender in Kyle Galinas, the 2024 PacWest Newcomer of the Year and winner of two PacWest Runner of the Week awards in September of 2025. On paper, Galinas is expected to be at the front of the pack with Biola's Melt von Molendorff and Concordia's Noah Plaza. von Molendorff, who finished third last year in Irvine, was third this year at the UC Riverside Invite and tenth at the high-level Lewis Invitational. He also won a pair of PacWest Runner of the Week awards this year. Plaza was seventh at the PacWest Championships last year and finished 19th at the NCAA West Regional. He most recently finished second at the San Francisco State Invite, edging Galinas in the process.
On the team front, those three squads are expected to vie the championship trophy. Azusa Pacific has won the last two crowns, and Biola won in 2022. The Eagles were the preseason favorite in the coaches poll, with the Golden Eagles tabbed second. Biola edged APU in one of the opening races of the season back on Sept. 12, when the Eagles were fourth and the Cougars fifth at the Biola Invitational. Most recently in San Francisco, Azusa had second place numbers to Concordia's third.
Ten teams will toe the starting line for the 8:45 a.m. Hawaii time start (11:45 Pacific), hopeful to break into that top three and most certainly vying for placing that is important in the PacWest's Hogue Cup. Running for placing and All-PacWest honors (top 21 runners) in addition to the Eagles, Cougars and Golden Eagles will be Chaminade, Dominican, Fresno Pacific, Jessup, Hawaii Pacific, Vanguard and Westmont.
While the team and individual titles are anything but certain, one thing is known for sure--the course will be difficult and unlike anything the mainland schools have run on this year. The hills and diversity of the course are one thing, and the Hawai`i humidity will be another factor to contend with.
For more on the course and much more, go to the PacWest Cross Country Championships page
here, There you will find drone footage of the course, the 6K and 8K race maps, a link to t-shirt and sweatshirt merchandise, links to Live Results and PacWest cross country record books.