BETHANY, Okla. – For the first time in MACU cross country history, the Evangels crowned a collegiate race champion at the Southern Nazarene Invitational held at Eldon Lyon Park on Saturday morning as senior
Gracie Sanders won the women's two-mile race while freshman
Jaden Rodriguez paced MACU with a fourth-place finish in the men's 5k race.
Competing at Eldon Lyon for the first time since competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship last fall, the Evangels opened the day with the men's 5k and with a loaded new roster, Rodriguez proved in his first collegiate race that he could compete with some of the best runners at the NAIA and NCAA Division II level.
With MACU running in its first men's 5k in program history, Rodriguez set a stellar program record time as he crossed the finish line as his fourth-place time of 16:15.5 was just eight seconds off the race-winning time.
Also competing in his first collegiate race,
Connor Gerth posted the second-best time for the Evangels as his 17:00.9 time was good enough for 17
th place while
Cameron Pearson finished close behind in 19
th with a time of 17:13.2.
Following the men's race was the women's two-mile event, which turned out to be the historic one for the Evangels. Not only did Sanders win the contest with a time of 12:07.5, but she also dominated the event as she finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from Southern Nazarene Kelsi Hilton (12:35.2).
Senior
Ainsley Velasquez just narrowly missed a top 15 finish as her 14:00.2 time was good enough for a 17
th place finish while freshman
Jacqueline Torres turned in a very solid 19
th-place time of 14:12.2 in her first collegiate race.
Mid-America Christian will have a short turnaround for its second race as the Evangels will run a twilight race at the Mustang Derby hosted by Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas on September 12. That is currently scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start at the MSU Campus Course.
