Biola, under head coach Sean Henning, has already reached unprecedented heights as a cross country program, winnig their fourth consecutive Pacific West Conference Championship last fall.

In 2026, they have a chance to make PacWest history. No team has ever won five straight trophies, and Biola joined California Baptist as the only teams to have won four.

The conference coaches say that the Eagles can reach that lofty goal. Biola received eight of the ten first place votes and 98 poll points overall in the annual preseason poll. Point Loma is second with two first place votes and 88 poll points, followed by Vanguard (79), Concordia (75), Westmont (56), Hawai`i Hilo (46), Chaminade (30), Dominican (28), Jessup (27) and Hawai`i Pacific (23).

Biola might have garnered all ten place first place votes if they hadn't lost Bethany Mapes to graduation. Mapes won the PacWest and NCAA West Region titles last year, just the second person in conference history to win both races (BYU Hawaii's Chelsea Smith was the other in 2004). But, the Eagles are still loaded without Mapes. Henning has a foursome of stars in Jaina Kang (1^st Team All-Conference), Hailey Wurzbach (2^nd Team All-Conference), Claire Lesiw (3^rd Team All-Conference), and Elizabeth Kurtz (3^rd Team All-Conference). Overall, nine Eagles are back for Biola.

Point Loma finished second at the PacWest Championships in Hawai`i last year, their best finish since 2018 when the won the title. They are picked to cross the line second again this year. The Sea Lions lost one of the conference's top runners in Maddie Reeves, but return 14 runners including Third Team All-PacWest pick Jocelyn Gibson. First-year coach Avery Takata has four freshmen to add to the mix and transfers Julia Ferreira (Portland) and Sabrina Fleig (Lenior-Rhyne).

Vanguard was third last year and is predicted to land in that spot again this year. Head coach Bryan Wilkins has one of the conference's top runners in Ella Murray, the PacWest Freshman of the Year. Murray finished second in the 2025 race behind Mapes and was 18th at the regional meet. Overall, Wilkins (in his 37th season) has five runners that finished in the top 40 at the conference championships.

Concordia is fourth, paced by PacWest Newcomer of the Year Ania Kapustka. The grad senior was fourth at the league championships and 15th at the regional championships. The Golden Eagles have a new coach in David Pleitez, who came to Irvine from CSU San Marcos. Pleitez inherits ten returnees and is also bolstered by transfer Ryann Smith from Alaska Anchorage, who finished 18th in last year's GNAC Championships.

Westmont is slotted fifth. Head coach Russell Smelley, in his 47th season, has a large group to work with which includes 15 returning runners and eight freshmen. The Warriors finished eighth last year in the championships. Hawai`i Hilo comes in at sixth in the poll. Fourth-year head coach Alan Ryan has two of the top returnees in the conference in Kathleen Raab and Sequioa Gonzales, both Second Team All-PacWest runners last year. Chaminade is seventh with a new coach in Ty Sissel. The Silverswords were ninth in the conference race last year and Sissel has six runners back from that team.

Dominican follows. Veteran head coach Teressa DiPerna has only three returnees back but signed six freshmen and two transfers to bolster the roster. Jessup, who will host the 2026 PacWest Championships on November 8 in Rocklin, has a new coach in Jordan Kurtz, and he has three returnees on his Warrior roster. Hawai`i Pacific rounds out the group under head coach Kevin Schwartz, The Sharks have five back from last year, along with two freshmen and two transfers. 

Gone from the conference map this year is long time power Azusa Pacific (moving to Division III) and Fresno Pacific (CCAA).

Races begin today when Westmont runs at UC Santa Barbara and Point Loma competes at the nearby Aztec Coastal Invitiational. Friday finds Dominican at the University of San Francisco’s meet and Saturday’s slate shows Hawaii Pacific, Hawai`i Hilo and Chaminade at the University of Hawaii. Vanguard and Biola will run on Saturday at CSU Fullerton, Concordia will compete at CSU San Bernardino and Jessup will run at Simpson.

To see the complete schedule, click here. See the links at the top of page for capsules on each team and the Runners to Watch list.