Men's Cross Country

SAA Men's Cross Country Report - Oct. 21, 2025

CANTON, Ga.  – Ashton Deriso claims week eight Athlete of the Week honors from the Southern Athletic Association. 
  
Around the SAA: 
The Watson Collegiate XC Classic 2025 
Chattanooga Intercollegiate 
Southwestern Showdown 
Augustana Interregional Invitational 
Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble 
South Region Showdown 
Intercollegiate Border Battle 
 

Athlete of the Week: 
Athlete: 
Ashton Deriso | Oglethorpe | GR | Ocala, FL – Oglethorpe graduate student Ashton Deriso ran a season best 8k of 24:46 to place seventh out of a field of 32 teams and 239 individuals at the South Region Showdown in Salem, Virginia, this past weekend. This performance was the fastest of the conference and regional universities in attendance. He paced the Stormy Petrels to an eighth-place finish as a team. 

Notable Performances: 

  • Keenan Smith | Berry | FR | Marietta, GA – A freshman from Marietta, GA Smith helped lead the men's cross country team to an eighth place finish at the South Region showdown in Salem, VA. Smith led the Vikings with an impressive 11th-place performance, clocking 25:20.4 in the 8K. 

  • Noah George | Centre | SR | Louisville, KY – Noah George ran the best cross country race of his career for the Colonels this past Saturday at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble. George posted a time of 26:21 on the 4.97-mile course, converted to the same time for an 8k race. That time put him in the individual top 30 in a loaded race of over 200 runners and was 31 seconds faster than his previous best 8k time, helping the Centre men finish in 6th place against 25 of the toughest teams in the Great Lakes Region 

  • Devion Hart | Millsaps | FR | Biloxi, MS – Millsaps men's cross country freshman Devion Hart continued to make a name for himself by finishing 66th in 27 minutes, 3.7 seconds in the Watson Collegiate XC Classic. The men's team finished 13th out of 25 NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA and JUCO programs at the Choctaw Trails on Friday morning. 

  • Jack Sullivan | Rhodes | SR – Senior Jack Sullivan led the Lynx men’s team at the Interregional Border Battle in Glassboro, New Jersey, finishing 45th overall in a highly competitive national field. Sullivan crossed the line in 25:45.9for the 8k course, averaging 5:11 per mile while pacing the team through steady splits of 15:29 at 3 miles and 23:36 at 7.2k. His strong performance guided Rhodes to a 10th-place team finish with a combined time of 2:11:32, continuing his role as a veteran leader and consistent front-runner for the Lynx. 

  • Jack Collins | Sewanee | FR | New Orleans, LA – Jack Collins returned to the lineup this week after being injured, winning his second meet of the season at the Chattanooga Intercollegiate on Friday evening. In his first collegiate 8000m, Collins pulled away to chase the pack at 7000m and ran down the leader with 800m to go, pulling ahead for a 15-second win, running a 25:59.34.  

  • Emilio Salas | Southwestern | JR | Amarillo, TX – Senior Emilio Salas once again led the way for Southwestern University, finishing as the Pirates’ top runner at the SU Showdown with a time of 27:21 on the challenging 8K home course (5k time would be 16:37). Salas placed inside the top 10 for the third consecutive year at the event, pacing the Pirates to a runner-up team finish behind only NCAA Division II Dallas Baptist University. His consistency and leadership continue to set the tone for Southwestern’s lineup as the team builds momentum heading into championship competition. 

  • Elijah Bliss | Trinity | FR | Garden Ridge, TX – Bliss led the Trinity University men's cross country team at the Augustana Interregional Invitational, posting a personal-record time of 26:10 to lead the team to a 25th-place finish that was just behind nationally-ranked Otterbein. 

2025 Men’s Cross Country Report Archive (AOW) 
Week One – Sept. 2 (Ashton Deriso) 
Week Two - Sept. 9 (Reeve VanDemark) 
Week Three – Sept. 16 (James Rush) 
Week Four – Sept. 23 (Zachary Benner) 
Week Five – Sept. 30 (Garrett Machado) 
Week Six – Oct. 7 (Zachary Benner) 
Week Seven – Oct. 14 (None) 

For more information on all things SAA, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the SAA's home on the internet at www.saa-sports.com. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Southern Athletic Association news by following @SAA_Sports on Twitter (X) and @SAA_Sports on Instagram.