No. 21 Men’s Cross Country to Begin 2026 Campaign at RSU Distance After Dark

OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 21 MACU Men's Cross Country team will look to open its highly-anticipated 2026 season on a high note as it will once again start it off at the Distance After Dark hosted by Rogers State University at the Mohawk Sports Complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday night. The men's 4-mile run is scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m.

SEASON PREVIEW

2025 Season Notables
- Second Place at NCCAA National Championships
- Third Place at SAC Championships
Top Returners
- Mohamed Zairi – SR
  - Top 4-Mile Time – 20:53.8 – RSU Distance After Dark (Sept. 4, 2025)
  - Top 8k Time – 25:32.8 – MSSU Southern Stampede (Sept. 20, 2025)
- Aidan Collins – JR
  - Top 4-Mile Time – 21:05.8 – RSU Distance After Dark (Sept. 4, 2025)
  - Top 8k Time – 26:14.6 – MSSU Southern Stampede (Sept. 20, 2025)
Top Newcomers
- Mohamed Guled – JR – Utah Valley
  - 2024 WAC Individual Champion
  - Top 8k Time – 23:07.0
  - Top 10k Time – 29:49.2
- Abdulsalam Farah – JR – Utah Valley
  - Placed Ninth at 2023 WAC Championships
  - Top 8k Time – 23:53.6
  - Top 10k Time – 30:35.8
Season Notes
- Mid-America Christian comes into the 2026 season with some big time expectations after adding a pair of stellar junior NCAA Division I transfers in Mohamed Guled and Abdulsalam Farah to go along with some strong returners to the program.
- After not competing during the 2025-26 cross country and track and field seasons, Guled will be looking to lead the charge for the Evangels. During the 2024 cross country campaign, the standout posted a downright incredible 8k time of 23:07.0 to capture the WAC Individual Championship while posting a very strong 29:49.2 in the NCAA Division I Mountain Regional race.
- While Farah missed the 2024 and 2025 fall seasons, he posted strong times as well during the 2023 campaign, notching his personal-best 8k time of 23:53.6 at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, placed ninth at the WAC Championships, and turned in a personal-best 10k time of 30:35.8 at the NCAA D-I Mountain Region Championships.
- After missing the last half of the 2025 cross country season due to injury, senior Mohamed Zairi will be looking to get back in-stride for the 2026 campaign. During the first half of the 2025 season, Zairi ran the seventh-fastest 8k time in MACU's record book with a 25:32.8 set at the MSSU Southern Stampede.
- Junior Aidan Collins is also another strong returning distance runner for the Evangels. Last season, Collins set a personal-best 8k time of 26:14.6 as the Southern Stampede as well as turned in a 25^th place finish in the SAC Championship race.
- On-top of bringing in two top tier transfers, Head Coach Merritt Suenram is also optimistic about his incoming freshmen class, headlined by Kaydon Payne, Teagan Nelson, and Daxton Frazier.
- Competing at Lone Grove High School, Payne put together a stellar high school career that saw him set a 5k personal best of 15:38.1 and also finished fourth at the OSHAA 4A State Championships in 2025.
- Nelson comes to MACU after competing for Mustang High School. During his senior campaign, Nelson posted a 17^th-best finished in the OSHAA 6A State Championship with a 5k time of 16:03.8 and running a person-best of 15:42.1 at the famous Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival.
- Coming to MACU after competing at Byng High School, Frazier also put up eye-popping numbers, including an eight-place finish at the OSHAA 4A State Championship with a 5k time of 16:28.81. He turned in his personal-best at the Lake Country Conference Championship, posting a third-best mark in the race of 16:04.2, bested only by Dickson's Landon Eubank and his new MACU teammate in Payne.