OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Cross Country teams competed at the Mustang Derby hosted by Midwestern State at the Lake Wichita Park on Thursday morning as Ashlyn Vasquez led the women's team by running the second-fastest 4k time in program history while Jonathan Avila led the men's team by also posting the second-fastest 6k time in the MACU record books.
 
WOMEN'S RACE

• Distance: 4000-meters (4k)
• Number of Teams: 8
• Number of Finishers: 67
• Score/Place: 164 / 6^th of 8
• Top Finishers:
  • Ashlyn Vasquez
    • Time: 16:29.0, Place: 32^nd, Points: 22
  • Jessie Foster-Anderson
    • Time: 17:37.3, Place: 41^st, Points: 27
  • Cora Eyler
    • Time: 18:35.4, Place: 52^nd, Points: 35
• Team Notes:
  • In the event that was a mix of NCAA D-II, D-III, and JUCO schools, Mid-America Christian as a squad finished sixth as a team with 164 points, placing 22 points back of North Central Texas College in fifth and 21 points in-front of Cisco College. The Evangels also managed to finish better than Sooner Athletic Conference rival Science & Arts, who finished in eighth with 218 points.
  • Once again, it was junior Ashlyn Vasquez who led the way for MACU by finishing in the top half of the field, posting a 32^nd place time of 16:29.0. It was the second-fastest 4k time in program history, surpassing the previous mark set by Asley Velasquez in last year's MSU Mustang Derby with a 17:16.8.
  • Freshman Jessie Foster-Anderson posted MACU's second-best finish with a time of 17:37.3 to notch the program's fifth-fastest 4k mark while Cora Eyler's time of 18:35.4 set the next best mark in MACU's 4k record book.
  • The marks set by Kaylee Campbell, Lisa Hernandez-Cruz, and Londyn Medrano also broke into MACU's top 10 with Campbell's 18:44.4 occupying eighth, Hernandez-Cruz marking ninth at 19:25.1, and Medrano taking 10^th in the books with a 20:01.5.
  • Overall, the Evangels as a team placed better than last year's race after placing 10^th out of 11 teams in last year's MSU Mustang Derby.

MEN'S RACE

• Distance: 6000-meters (6k)
• Number of Teams: 6
• Number of Finishers: 74
• Score/Place: 124 / 5^th of 6
• Top Finishers:
  • Jonathan Avila
    • Time: 19:57.3, Place: 15^th, Score: 13
  • Canaan Motley
    • Time: 20:13.7, Place: 24^th, Score: 20
  • Xadrian Hernandez
    • Time: 20:33.0, Place: 33^rd, Score: 28
• Team Notes:
  • While this ended up being a race primarily for MACU's freshman class, the Evangels still posted excellent results, placing fifth out of the six teams from the NCAA D-II, D-III, and JUCO levels. After getting just barely outran by Oklahoma Christian at the RSU Distance After Dark last week, the Evangels finished ahead of the Eagles this week with 124 with OC netting 134.
  • Jonathan Avila was MACU's top finisher this week, crossing the finish line in 19:57.3 to notch only the second sub 20-minute 6k mark in program history to net the Evangels 13 points.
  • Canaan Motley also put together a great finish after crossing the finish line in 20:13.7 to come in 24^th place and set the third-fastest 6k mark in the program record book, besting Aidan Collins' mark from last year's MSU Mustang Derby by nearly 13 seconds.
  • After notching one of MACU's top five scores in last week's Distance After Dark, Xadrian Hernandez recorded the third-best time for the Evangels this week, crossing the line in 20:33.0 to place 33^rd, netting 28 points for MACU and notching the fifth-best time on MACU's all-time list.
  • Three other Evangels managed to find their way in the program record book as Chase Cotarello posted the sixth-best mark with a 20:37.1, Carson Nault notched the seventh-best time of 20:40.0, and Collin Seely snatched the ninth-best mark with a 21:00.7.
  • Even though MACU rested some of their top runners from last week's race, the Evangels still managed to put together a better team time in this year's MSU Mustang Derby, accumulating a time of 1:44:34 on Sept. 12, 2024 while this year's accumulated time was 1:42:01.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will make its way to Joplin, Mo. next week to compete in the Missouri Southern Stampede on Sept. 20. Race times and meet information has yet to be announced.

COMPLETE RESULTS

Women's 4k (4000-Meters)
Name	Time	Place	Points
Ashlyn Vasquez	16:29.0	32nd	22
Jessie Foster-Anderson	17:37.3	41st	27
Cora Eyler	18:35.4	52nd	35
Kaylee Campbell	18:44.4	56th	39
Lisa Hernandez-Cruz	19:25.1	59th	41
Londyn Medrano	20:01.5	60th	42
Ellen Campos	20:14.6	61st	43

 

Men's 6k (6000-Meters)
Name	Time	Place	Points
Jonathan Avila	19:57.3	15th	13
Canaan Motley	20:13.7	24th	20
Xadrian Hernandez	20:33.0	33rd	28
Chase Cotarello	20:37.1	35th	29
Carson Nault	20:40.0	40th	34
Collin Seely	21:00.7	49th	(40)
Connor Gerth	21:41.7	58th	(42)
James Valdez	21:50.0	61st	N/A
Blake Jensen	22:23.9	66th	N/A
Jawad Salame	22:25.3	67th	N/A
Saulo Castro	23:07.4	68th	N/A
Jonathan Figueroa	23:57.3	70th	N/A