Men's Cross Country

Biola and Concordia Win MXC Awards, Again

Zach Elam sprints to the Player of the Week award for the second time, while Concordia's second place crossing at UCR helps them gain Team of the Week.

It’s Déjà vu all over again, two weeks later in regard to the MXC weekly awards. Biola’s Zach Elam is the repeat winner of the Runner of the Week honors after an impressive jaunt at the UC Riverside Invitational. Concordia wins the Team of the Week again after a second place finish in the Open 8K in Riverside.

2026 Results/Schedule
2026 USTFCCCA National and Regional Polls
 
RUNNER OF THE WEEK: Biola’s Zach Elam, Grad., Corona, Calif.                                            
Zach Elam bettered his 8K time from two weeks ago with a 24:07 clocking at UCR, placing him 21st of 219 runners and 16th among collegiate runners in the Invite portion of the races. The first-year Eagle and a graduate transfer from the University of San Francisco was the top Division II finisher in the race. He topped the time of his debut race at CSU Fullerton’s race in Corona (25:09) by over a minute.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Concordia Golden Eagles                                                                          
Concordia is the Team of the Week after finishing in second place of 20 teams in the Open 8K portion of the UC Riverside Invitational. The Golden Eagles tallied 57 points, second only to Division I winner Southern Utah (27 points). Owen Stults was third in the field to lead CUI with a time of 24:33, with Logan Jones (25:05), Spencer Handorf (25:13) and Dante Maldonado (25:14) close behind. The Golden Eagles had an average time in the race of 25:09, and had four of the top 12 runners in the field. 
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Biola was 14th in the Invite portion of the meet. Zach Elam (see above) was the top Eagle runner, followed by Grant Miller who finished 37th (24:25) of 219 mostly Division I runners. Westmont was also in the race, led by Phillip Contakes (24:56)…In the Open 8K, the race that Concordia finished second in, Biola fielded a team that was 13th and Vanguard was 14th. Aidan Burr was BU’s top finisher (25:30) with Vanguard paced by Ommar Arroyo (25:35).

LOOKING AHEAD: It’s a light week for PacWest teams with only two races on the schedule. The two Hawaii schools will compete at the Hawaii Country Club on Saturday, while Jessup will also host a meet on their own campus, the site of the PacWest Championships in November.