The
Biola Eagles, who won the 2025 Pacific West Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship, swept their way to the 2025 conference special awards as well.
Melt von Molendorff is the Runner of the Year,
Marcin Stanglewicz is the Newcomer of the Year,
Grant Miller is the Freshman of the Year and
Sean Henning is the Coach of the Year.
The awards were voted on by the PacWest’s coaches at the completion of the entire season, taking into account regional and national results in addition to the regular season and conference championships.
It was the first sweep of the four awards for a PacWest team since Biola did the same in 2022.
Melt von Molendorff won the 2025 Pacific West Conference at the Hawaii Country Club by a full 11 seconds to help his Eagles team to the school’s fourth team title. He covered the course in 24:33. The three-time All-PacWest runner from South Africa also placed 16
th at the NCAA West Regional Championships to earn All-Region honors, and earlier in the year was third at the UC Riverside Invitational and crossed the line eighth at the Lewis Crossover, racing against some of the top Division II teams and runners in the country.
von Molendorf’s teammate
Marcin Stanglewicz is the Newcomer of the Year. The transfer from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) earned First Team All-PacWest honors with a sixth place finish at the conference meet in Hawaii with a time of 25:09. The Poland native was 52
nd at the NCAA West Regional meet and had best times in 2025 of 25:08 (8K) and 31:23 (10K).
Grant Miller is the Freshman of the Year. Miller surprised many in the field with a fourth place finish at the PacWest Championships for First Team honors, and he went on to cross the line 32
nd at the NCAA West Region meet in Oregon. He was the third fastest freshman in the entire field. The Whittier native had an 8K best this season of 24:24.
Their coach
Sean Henning is the Coach of the Year. Henning's Eagles were the preseason favorite and they lived up to the hype with by winning the title by 18 points over runner-up Fresno Pacific. The Eagles would go on to place seventh at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships in Monmouth, Oregon, the top placing by a PacWest team. This was Henning's fourth PacWest Coach of the Year honor, third with Biola (he also won as the head coach at California Baptist in 2011).
This year’s All-PacWest Team, based on the top 21 finishes at the conference meet, features six freshmen or redshirt-freshmen and eight sophomores. For von Molendorff and
Concordia’s Noah Plaza, it was their third All-PacWest honors.
| 2025 ALL-PACWEST MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS |
| Runner of the Year |
Newcomer of the Year |
Freshman of the Year |
Coach of the Year |
Melt von Molendorf
Biola |
Marcin Stanglewicz
Biola |
Grant Miller
Biola |
Sean Henning
Biola |
| 2025 ALL-PACWEST MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM |
| Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown/Previous School |
| FIRST TEAM |
| Melt von Molendorff** |
Biola |
Jr. |
Cape Town, South Africa / Univ. of S. Africa |
| Noah Plaza** |
Concordia |
Sr. |
Gilbert, Ariz. / Williams Field HS |
| Spencer Handorf* |
Concordia |
Jr. |
Villa Park, Calif. / Villa Park HS |
| Grant Miller |
Biola |
Fr. |
Whittier, Calif. / La Serna HS |
| Aaron Lakeman |
Azusa Pacific |
Fr.-RS |
Tualatin, Ore. / Tualatin HS |
| Marcin Stanglewicz |
Biola |
Fr.-RS |
Gdynia, Poland / Univ. of Mississippi |
| Luke Sanders |
Fresno Pacific |
Fr. |
Clovis, Calif. / Buchanan HS |
| SECOND TEAM |
|
|
|
|
| Jonas Teeter |
Azusa Pacific |
So. |
Barrington, NH / Portsmouth Christian Academy |
| Sawyer Pugliese |
Fresno Pacific |
Fr. |
Sanger, Calif. / Sanger HS |
| Evan Torres |
Fresno Pacific |
So. |
Parlier, Calif. / Parlier HS |
| Joshua Klausmeier |
Biola |
So. |
Fullerton, Calif. / El Dorado HS |
| Rodney Chemalmal* |
Fresno Pacific |
Sr. |
Nakuru, Kenya / Maseno School |
| Jeremiah Echeverria |
Biola |
Jr. |
Whittier, Calif. / Sonora HS |
| Donte Maldonado |
Concordia |
Fr. |
Yorba Linda, Calif. / Yorba Linda HS |
|
|
|
|
| THIRD TEAM |
| David De Loera |
Fresno Pacific |
So. |
Sanger, Calif. / Sanger HS |
| Moises Benito |
Concordia |
Sr. |
Salinas, Calif. / Hartnell College |
| Erick Leal |
Azusa Pacific |
So. |
Santa Clarita, Calif. / Canyon HS |
| Daniel Galvez |
Fresno Pacific |
So. |
Sanger, Calif. / Sanger HS |
| Kyle Galinas* |
Azusa Pacific |
Sr |
Newark, Calif. / Chabot JC |
| Samuel Nealon |
Westmont |
So. |
Sacramento, Calif. / Christian Brothers HS |
| Hunter Skoglund |
Westmont |
So. |
Visalia, Calif. / Redwood HS |
*Previous All-PacWest Selection