TULSA, Okla. – The MACU Cross Country teams shined bright under the lights at the Mohawk Sports Complex in the team's first race of the 2025. The men's side put together its best ever team finish in program history, finishing second out of 10 teams while
Lucky Maila,
Jaden Rodriguez, and
Mohamed Zairi each turned in a top 10 finish. In the women's race,
Ashlyn Vasquez impressed in her MACU debut, posting one of the best 5k times in program history.
WOMEN'S RACE
- Distance: 5000-Meter (5k)
- Number of Teams: 10
- Number of Finishers: 107
- Score/Place: 271 / 10th of 10
- Top Finishers:
- Race Notes:
- Running in a prestigious night race that featured some of the top NCAA D-II, JUCO and NAIA runners, the Evangels wrapped up the race finishing 10th as a team with 271 total points.
- In her first race as an Evangel, junior Ashlyn Vasquez paced the Evangels with a time of 20:57.30 to place 60th overall and notch the low score of 39 for MACU. The mark set the sixth-fastest 5k time in program history, making it only the sixth mark that was under 21 minutes. Vasquez surpassed Egidija Busitie's previous mark of 21:01.20 that was set at the Missouri Southern Stampede all the way back on Sept. 19, 2009.
- In her first collegiate race, freshman Jessie Foster-Anderson led all freshman for MACU with a time of 22:11.02 to score 55 points with her 84th place finish.
- Junior Kaylee Campbell was MACU's third best finisher, posting a time of 23:00.36 to place 93rd and net 58 points for MACU.
MEN'S RACE
- Distance: 4-Mile (6437-Meters)
- Number of Teams: 10
- Number of Finishers: 117
- Score/Place: 63 / 2nd of 10
- Top Finishers:
- Race Notes:
- Facing some downright strong competition from the NCAA D-II, NAIA, and JUCO levels as well, the MACU Men's Cross Country team put together its best ever placing in a meet in program history. Due in-large part to having three runners finish in the top 10, the Evangels netted 63 points to finish just 10 back of Oklahoma Christian while placing 12 points ahead of race host Rogers State.
- Staying in-contention for the individual medalist honors for most of the race, junior Lucky Maila put together a strong result to lead the Evangels in his MACU debut, turning in a time of 20:40.41 to come away with fifth.
- MACU's returning NCCAA All-American, sophomore Jaden Rodriguez finished close behind in sixth, crossing the line in 20:47.89.
- Making his cross country debut for the Evangels after competing with the track team during the spring, sophomore Mohamed Zairi also posted a strong top 10 time of 20:53.8 to place eighth.
- Another one of MACU's top returners, sophomore Aidan Collins helped keep MACU in the hunt by placing 13th after crossing the line in 21:05.78.
- Rounding out MACU's scorers in his first collegiate race was Xadrian Hernandez, who scored 31 points with a time of 21:38.51 to place 32nd in the meet.
- Not only did the Evangels as a team post a great result against three NCAA D-II programs in Oklahoma Christian, Rogers State and Oklahoma Baptist, but MACU also placed higher than two of the top three teams in the SAC last season in Oklahoma City and John Brown. The Golden Eagles finished fifth as a team with a score of 116 while the Stars placed eighth with a 201.
COMPLETE RESULTS
