OKLAHOMA CITY – For the third-straight year, the MACU Men's Cross Country team will be competing at the NCCAA National Championships hosted Ozark Christian College at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo. on Friday morning. The men's 8k Division I race is set for a 9 am start.
 
MEN'S SEASON REPORT

• Last Meet: SAC Championships – Nov. 8, 2025 – Siloam Springs, Ark.
• Team Results: 2:11:29 / 68 / 3^rd of 10
• Top Finisher: Lucky Maila – 3^rd – 25:27.3
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is coming of its best ever finish at the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships, placing third as a team after completing a team time of 2:11.29 to score 68 points, placing only four points back of host John Brown and 47 points in-front of College of the Ozarks in fourth. The race was ran at Pollard's Field in Siloam Springs, Ark.
  • For the first time in program history, MACU had three runners earn All-SAC honors with their finishes as junior Lucky Maila paced the Evangels with a 25:27.3, making it the second-fastest 8k time in program history while coming away with third place in the race.
  • Sophomore Jaden Rodriguez finished right behind Maila in the race in fourth, crossing the finish line in 25:29.56 for the third-fastest mark in MACU's record book and Rodriguez's second-best personal time after running a 25:16.10 in last year's SAC Championship at Eldon Lyon Park in Bethany, Okla. on Nov. 9, 2024. The result allowed Rodriguez to become the program's first two-time All-SAC honoree after placing eighth in the race.
  • The third Evangel to achieve All-SAC accolades was freshman Jonathan Avila, who posted a personal-best time of 26:21.6, his first sub 27-minute collegiate mark to place 14^th to earn one of the 15 conference honors.
  • Freshman Xadrian Hernandez recorded MACU's fourth-best scoring mark with a 21^st place time of 26:59.5 while sophomore Aidan Collins posted MACU's final scoring mark of 27:11.4 to place 25^th overall.
  • The team time of 2:11:29 set the second-fastest 8k time for the Evangels this season, placing it only two minutes behind MACU's best mark set at the Missouri Southern Stampede with a 2:09:41 to enter the NCCAA National Championships with the third-fastest team time of all qualifying institutions.
  • In last year's NCCAA National Championships, Rodriguez became the program's first ever NCCAA All-American after placing sixth with a time of 25:53.0 at the Warsaw Cross Country Course in Warsaw, Ind. on Nov. 15, 2024.
  • The Evangels will be running at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country course for the second time this season after running on the grounds during the Missouri Southern Stampede on Sept. 20.