The Master's Extends Historic Streak with 17th Straight GSAC Men's Cross Country Title

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Master's continued its historic run of dominance at the 2026 GSAC Men's Cross Country Championship on Friday, placing five runners second through sixth to capture the men's 8-kilometer team title with 20 points at Central Park in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The victory marked the 17th consecutive GSAC men's cross country championship for The Master's, which has claimed every conference title since 2010. The fourth-ranked Mustangs also secured an automatic berth in the 2026 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship.

Embry-Riddle Arizona's Ben Smith claimed the individual championship, crossing the finish line in 24 minutes, 26.3 seconds to lead the 75-runner field.

Smith finished 12.8 seconds ahead of runner-up Andrew Fastrup, but The Master's tightly grouped scoring five secured the team championship. Fastrup crossed in 24:39.1, followed by Hunter Roy in third at 24:41.7, Brogan Collins in fourth at 24:42.6 and Brad Sauer in fifth at 24:43.3. Bauer Hollman completed the scoring group in sixth at 24:44.7, giving the champions a remarkable spread of just 5.6 seconds between their first and fifth finishers.

The Mustangs' depth extended beyond their scoring five, as Elijah Lovett finished eighth in 24:57.9, Elijah Rojas placed ninth in 25:07.5 and Isaiah Fastrup rounded out the overall top 10 in 25:13.0. The Master's accounted for eight of the race's top 10 finishers.

No. 9 Embry-Riddle finished second with 41 points. Dillon Eisner was the Eagles' second finisher, placing seventh in 24:50.5. Thomas Isenovski took 11th in 25:18.8, Cam Shepherd was 12th in 25:19.2 and Jacob Ortiz completed the scoring five in 13th at 25:19.9. Nathan Nations added a 14th-place finish in 25:27.3, giving Embry-Riddle six of the top 14 finishers.

Arizona Christian claimed third with 85 points behind Braxton Pingleton, who finished 23rd overall in 26:19.3. Peter Brown followed in 26th at 26:49.9. John-Gabriel Lofredo placed 30th in 27:28.2, Josue Gudina took 31st in 27:30.6 and Nicholas Hiser finished 35th in 27:49.5 to complete the Firestorm's scoring five.

Nevada State finished fourth with 124 points in its first GSAC Men's Cross Country Championship appearance. Semaj Hall led the Scorpions with a 40th-place finish in 28:39.5, followed by Ahmaree Lott in 41st at 28:45.7.

Soka took fifth with 164 points as Mark Pliushchanskii led the Lions in 47th at 30:26.6. Shion Hirano placed 51st in 31:14.3, ahead of teammates Angel Barrios Bohorquez in 52nd and Hironobu Shinomiya in 54th.

Caleb Ornelas led Hope International with a 38th-place finish in 28:07.3 as the Royals placed sixth with 178 points. Andy Avalos finished 58th in 33:26.1, Luis Contreras took 59th in 33:41.6 and David Gutierrez placed 61st in 34:13.0. Devon Harrison completed the team's scoring group in 71st at 41:36.9.

La Sierra placed seventh with 196 points, led by Joel Mange in 57th at 33:10.4. Logan Nagamine was its next finisher in 60th at 34:11.1. OUAZ finished eighth with 220 points behind Christian Head, who placed 62nd in 35:34.4, and Isael Robles, who took 64th in 35:52.0.

The top 14 individual finishers earned All-GSAC recognition, with The Master's collecting eight selections and Embry-Riddle earning six.

With its automatic berth secured, The Master's will compete at the 2026 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship on November 20 at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.

The remaining qualifying teams will be announced during the NAIA Selection Show on Tuesday, November 10, at 4 p.m. CT (2 p.m. PT), streaming live on the NAIA YouTube channel. Individual qualifiers will be announced separately in the official release on NAIA.org.