OKLAHOMA CITY - The MACU Cross Country teams will be traveling to Clarksville, Arkansas for their final meet of the regular season as the Evangels will compete in the Ozarks Invitational being run on the Clarksville High School Cross Country Course this Saturday. The event will begin with the women's 5k race at 10 a.m. with the men's team to follow up at 11:00 a.m. in the 8K meet.
After earning the NCCAA Women's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Week, senior Gracie Sanders will look to continue her stellar season as her 5k time of 18:47.8 at the DBU Old Glory Gallup on Oct. 5 went down as the second-fastest mark all-time in the MACU record books. Sanders set the program in last year's DBU Old Glory Gallop as she was only a handful of seconds behind her own record time of 18:44.3 from last year's race.
On the men's side, the Evangels will be eager to see if freshman Jaden Rodriguez can shatter another MACU record. In his first three meets, he has solidified himself by achieving the program's 5K record in the SNU Invitational on Sept 7, the 6K record at the MSU Mustang Derby on Sept. 12 and most recently the 8K record with a time of 25:55, which finished 86th of 400 runners in a race that featured primarily NCAA Division I and II teams.
As a result of his efforts, Rodriguez was selected as the Sooner Athletic Conference Runner of the Week, becoming the first Evangel on the men's side to earn the weekly accolade.
Aidan Collins and Alexander Pebeahsy both cracked the top ten in all time 8k times for the Evangels as Collins time of 26:59 ranks sixth-best. Pebeahsy made a strong collegiate debut after missing the first two races due to injury, he posted a time of 27:27.1 that is now eighth-best for the Evangels.
