AZUSA, Calif. — The defending PacWest champions continued to show its depth and dominance this past weekend, sweeping the conference's weekly awards as freshman Aaron Lakeman was named PacWest Runner of the Week, while the Cougars earned Team of the Week honors following their performance at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.

Lakeman, a freshman from Tualatin, Oregon, led the Cougars with a 22nd-place finish in a strong field of small-college competition, clocking an 8K time of 25:50. The APU Freshman of the Month for September paced the Cougar pack from start to finish, setting the tone for a fourth-place team finish overall.

Despite missing top runner Kyle Galinas, the Cougars tallied 147 points, finishing ahead of Westmont and just behind a trio of highly ranked programs — Cal Poly Pomona, The Master's, and Pomona-Pitzer. Alongside Lakeman's lead effort, Jonas Teeter placed 40th (26:00), Isaiah Cowan was 45th (26:28), and Erick Leal crossed in 46th to give APU five finishers inside the top 50.

Lakeman has quietly emerged as one of the PacWest's most promising newcomers. After running 24:45 and 24:49 in his first two collegiate 8Ks at Biola and The Master's Invitationals, respectively, the Oregon native continues to impress in his debut fall season with the Cougars.

With the sweep, they reaffirm their spot among the region's top programs heading into the latter half of the season. It returns to action this Friday at the San Francisco State Invitational, where they'll toe the line alongside fellow PacWest competitor Concordia.