FULLERTON, Calif. – Azusa Pacific opened their 2025 campaign at the Biola Invitational on Friday morning at Ted Craig Regional Park, turning in a pair of solid team performances to kick off the season. The Cougar men placed fifth out of 17 scoring teams while the women secured a seventh-place finish out of 15 teams.
Women's 5K
In her APU debut, Naomi Sotelo led the women's squad, finishing 29th overall out of 152 runners with a time of 19:01.9. She was closely followed by Sofia Vasquez in 36th (19:12.9) and Sophia Godina in 39th (19:20.7) as the trio packed up near the front of the field.
True freshman Ashlynn Doolan impressed in her collegiate debut, placing 55th (19:51.6), while senior Grace Echelbarger closed out the scoring five in 71st (20:29.8). As a group, the Cougars tallied 198 points for seventh place, marking a promising start with several underclassmen stepping into key roles.
Men's 8K
It was ranked No. 3 in the PacWest Preseason Poll and entered the meet as two-time defending conference champions, showed their depth and competitiveness early. Kyle Galinis led the charge with a breakthrough performance, running a 17-second personal best of 24:20.5 to take fourth overall in a field of 178 runners. His mark was 25 seconds faster than the next PacWest finisher.
"It was honestly just having faith in the plan from the jump," Galinis said. "I know I'm in a great spot in my fitness right now, so going into the race, I was just looking to capitalize on that. Coach Harris gave us a race plan to tempo the beginning, and we executed, and that just happened to lead to a PR! Super grateful to be in this position right now and I can't wait to see how much more we are capable of later in the season on some faster courses."
Making his long-awaited APU debut, Aaron Lakeman impressed with a 13th-place finish in 24:45.7, while Erick Leal clocked his own 17-second PR (25:17.3) for 26th place. Jonas Teeter (34th, 25:34.8) and Maddox Oliver (50th, 26:03.9) gave them five inside the top 50, sealing a fifth-place team finish with 121 points—just 12 behind Biola, the PacWest preseason favorite.
Coach's Take
Head coach Jebreh Harris praised the men's performance and emphasized the culture being built within both squads.
"It reassures us that the chemistry and culture that we are creating is going in the right direction," Harris said. "With cross country, we know that there must be a unified mindset, we did a good job of that today. The team is even more motivated to get back to training and build every week."
Up Next
Azusa Pacific continues its season at the TMU XC Invitational on Saturday, September 20, where the Cougars will look to build on their early momentum.
