GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – The MACU Cross Country teams competed in the Dallas Baptist Old Glory Gallop for the second-straight year at Lynn Creek Park on Saturday morning as freshman Jaden Rodriguez's record mark paced the men to a 28th place as a team while senior Gracie Sanders led the women's team to a 36th place finish.
In the men's 8k race, Rodriguez put across another MACU record after crossing the finish line in 86th place with a program record time of 25:55, surpassing the previous mark set by teammate Mason Baker who notched the time of 26:18 in last year's event on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just three races with the Evangels, Rodriguez has set three different records, notching the program's 5K record in the SNU Invitational on Sept. 7 before breaking the program's 6K record at the MSU Mustang Derby on Sept. 12.
Freshman Aidan Collins also put together another strong showing as he finished with a time of 26:59 to place 147th in the event. The mark currently sits as the sixth-best in MACU's record book.
Making his Evangels debut after missing the first two races of the season due to injury, freshman Alexander Pebeahsy put together a solid result by crossing the line in 186th place with a time of 27:27, which ranks as the eighth-best time in MACU's top 10 record book.
MACU's other scoring times for the meet belonged to Ethan Hillis, who finished with a 28:05 mark while Connor Gerth closed in close behind with a time of 28:10.
In the women's 5k event, Gracie Sanders once again paced the Evangels as she notched the second-fastest time in MACU's program record book with a time of 18:48, placing 67th in the 429-runner race. Sanders was just four seconds off from matching her own record in the very same meet last season when she crossed the line in 18:44.3.
Ainsley Velasquez was MACU's second-fastest finisher as crossed the line in 22:12 while Jacqueline Torres placed third of the Evangels runners with a 22:41 time.
Mid-America Christian will compete in its final regular season race of the 2024 fall season on Saturday, Oct. 12 as the Evangels will run at the Ozarks Invitational in Clarksville, Arkansas.
