Melt von Molendorff ran a great race in a field packed with Division I runners, placing third at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday. The Biola standout finished just one second behind the top collegiate runner, helping to lead his team to an eighth place finish and Team of the Week honors. 

2025 Results/Schedule
2025 USTFCCCA National and Regional Polls
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK: Biola's Melt von Molendorff, Jr., 5-9, Cape Town, South Africa                                    
Biola's Melt von Molendorff sped to a third place finish in the invitational portion of the UC Riverside Invite, clocking 23:36 on the 8 kilometer campus course. The South African native finished just one clock click behind Herbie Johnson of the University of San Francisco, with the winner's gold going to unattached runner Ahmed Faris (23:28). von Molendorff's 8K time is likely a Biola school record. "Melt had a phenomenal day," said his coach Sean Henning. "He's worked very hard and I was very proud to see him race so smart and put himself out there the way he did." von Molendorff, one of the preseason favorites for the PacWest title, finished third in 2024 at the conference championships.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Biola Eagles                                                                                                                            
Biola finished eighth at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, which at first glance might not seem that impressive until you look under the hood a bit. The Eagles, competing against 23 other schools including 12 Division I squads, finished as the top Division II club in the field, including two other PacWest teams. Melt von Molendorff led the way (see above) with a scorching time of 23:36 on the 8K course, with teammate Grant Miller the next Eagle to cross the line in 29th (24:24). The Eagles had 251 team points, leading Concordia (340) and Fresno Pacific (390). The team winner was the University of San Francisco (33), followed by Long Beach State (170) and Pomona-Pitzer (173). Isaac Hampson (24:56), Marcin Stanglewicz (25:08) and Aiden Burr (25:35) rounded out the scoring times for the Eagles. 
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: In Riverside, Concordia was 14th of the 24 squads, paced by an excellent race from Noah Plaza in seventh (23:48). Golden Eagle Spencer Handorf was 32nd in the big field (24:26)...Fresno Pacific was 18th, led by Evan Torres in 43rd place (24:38)...In Rocklin on Jessup's campus course, Dominican won the three-team meet with 24 points, followed by Simpson and Jessup (94). Dominican's Robert Dawson won the 4-mile race in 22:05 by a comfortable margin over teammate Diego Montag (22:23). Jessup's top runner was Travis Brown (24:34)...On Oahu, Hawai`i Pacific clipped Chaminade at the HPU Invitational 23-37. The race was won by HPU's Aaron Humphries with a time of 29:51 on the 8K course, followed by Shark Aaron Garcia (30:05) and Chaminade's Kalamakua Francisco (30:13). 

LOOKING AHEAD: Just one race is on the PacWest schedule this coming week, Saturday (Oct. 4) at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. It will be a good field of top Division III teams plus PacWest challengers Biola, Azusa Pacific, Westmont, Vanguard and Hawaii Pacific.