IRVINE, Calif. — As the 2024 Cross Country postseason nears, Azusa Pacific sent half its squad to the Master's University XC Invitational on Saturday while the other half of the team sat out in preparation for the upcoming Lewis Crossover meet next weekend. The team put five runners in the top-60 of the race to finish seventh overall out of 20 teams.

Meanwhile on the Women's side, Janelle Santos and Ella Benjamin were the lone runners as the rest of the team will head to Illinois next week.

Dider Sandoval led the Cougars with a time of 25:30 in his first race of the season. Sandoval, a three-time All-PacWest Second Team runner, opened his senior year with a 35th place finish in a field of 233 runners.

"Dider is a veteran," said head coach Jebreh Harris. "This is his first race in a good while. Once we get back into the groove of training and racing Dider abilities will continue to show. Dider is competitive and very determined. That's what I like about him."

Following shortly behind Sandoval was freshman Erick Leal, racing in his second ever collegiate race, to finish with a time of 25:34 to improve upon his 25:41 mark two weeks ago.

Also within just a few seconds behind Leal were freshman Avery Erikson (25:40 - 46th) and Adam King (25:43 - 50th). Then, rounding out the top five runners for Azusa Pacific was freshman David Yowler who finished 60th overall (25:54), just a few seconds off his season best time from UC Riverside. Also racing for the Cougars was Nico Melendres (26:41 - 100th)

The Men's team was able to put all five of its scorers in the top 60 and finished with a 2:08.23 gap between their first and fifth runners. The Cougars also outlasted three PacWest schools en route to a seventh place overall finish, including Biola who had beat them in the previous race.

"I'm glad the fellas had an opportunity to compete. Every time one takes advantage of  competition it is experience gained. Erick Leal was our top freshmen for the guys. He was followed by Avery Erickson and David Yowler who both ran solid races. Adam King and Nico Melendes stepped up to race even thought they just got over a cold. It was a solid day over all," said Harris following the race.

Also racing this weekend were Janelle Santos and Ella Benjamin, representing the Women's Cross Country team. Santos finished 112nd overall in a field of 230 with a time of 24:56 in her second race of the season. Meanwhile, Ella Benjamin finished just a few seconds behind her with a time of 25:01 (128th), improving by over a minute from her first 6k two weeks ago where she ran 26:19.

"I like how they both competed," said Harris. "Janelle Santos got out well enough, then she had to catch her second wind the last half of the race. Janelle had a strong finish going towards the finish line, that was great to see the fight in her. Ella Benjamin ran a solid race and ran with a lot of composure. Composure is a great sight to see in a freshman. Today was her second ever 6k and she raced well."

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will send the remaining runners to the Lewis Crossover Invitational next weekend in Romeoville, Illinois. The Men's 8k race will kick off a 9:45 am CST / 7:45 am PT while the Women's 6k is slated for 10:30 am CST / 8:30 am PT. The meet is known to host one of the strongest and deepest fields of DII runners in the nation, which will allow the Cougars to get in a good tune up before the postseason. Then kicking off the postseason racing, the PacWest Championships will take place in Irvine on October 26th.