BETHANY, Okla. – The MACU men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Sooner Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Eldon Lyon Park on Saturday morning and for the first time in program history, an Evangel garnered an All-Sooner Athletic Conference accolade as Gracie Sanders turned in a time of 24:06.10 in the 6000-meter women's event to take 10th place.
As a team, the MACU men's cross country squad turned in its best ever team finish in the league championships, finishing in fourth place out of the nine-team field with 142 points in the 8000-meter race. The Evangels scored 14 fewer positional points than Southwestern Assemblies of God to take the top-four spot from the Lions.
After losing one of the team's top runners due to injury early in the race, the MACU men's team rallied behind the performances of freshmen Mason Baker, Ryland Baker and Jason McKamie, who all turned in top 30 finishes in the meet.
Mason Baker just barely missed earned All-SAC honors as the Evangels top finisher, crossing the finish line in 26:51.00 to come in 17th place, less than nine seconds out from one of the coveted All-Conference nods. The mark was Baker's second-fastest personal 8k time and is just the third sub 27-minute time in MACU's record book.
Ryland Baker was the next to cross the line, turning in a 28th place time of 28:30.30 while McKamie blew by John Brown's Jake Hagood near the finish line to take 30th with a 29:02.90.
Sanders paced the women's team to a sixth-place finish in the eight-team field as the Evangels scored 153 points, finish just six points back of Wayland Baptist in the top five at 147.
Competing in her first ever cross country race, dual-sport athlete Deborah Silveira was MACU's second-best finisher in the race, crossing the finish line in 38th place with a time of 30:36.30 for the fourth-fastest 6k time in program history.
Ivy Moffat was MACU's third-best position was taken by Ivy Moffat, who turned in a time of 31:43.70 to net a 45th place finish.
In less than a week, the MACU men's cross country team and Gracie Sanders from the women's team will compete at the NCCAA Cross Country National Championships being hosted at the Warsaw Community High School Cross Country Course in Warsaw, Indiana on Nov. 10. The men's 8k championship race will take place at 9 a.m. (8 a.m. CST) before Sanders will run in the women's 5k set for 11 a.m. (10 a.m. CST).
