CANTON, Ga. – Zachary Benner captures week four athlete of the week honors.
Around the SAA:
Mountaineer Hill Country Invite
Rhodes Invitational
Firehawk Invitational
DIII XC Pre-Nationals
Athlete of the Week:
Athlete:
Zachary Benner | Oglethorpe | SR | Hartwell, GA – Zachary Benner ran a four-second PR (24:54), just shy of the school record, in his first 8k of the season, leading the field through the first mile in a blazing fast 4:33. This time was good for a sixth-place finish in the stacked DIII pre-nationals preview race.
Notable Performances:
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Liam Black | Centre | SO | Paducah, KY – Liam Black ran the best race of his life for Centre men's cross country on Saturday at the NCAA Pre-National Meet in Spartanburg, S.C. Black toured the 8k course at USC Upstate in 26:23.9, which was good enough to land him inside the individual top 50 in the race. That time surpassed his previous 8k grass personal best time by seven seconds.
- Dallas Stricker | Millsaps | FR | Picayune, MS – Millsaps freshman cross country standout Dallas Stricker was swift in his first collegiate 8K, completing the Rhodes Invitational course in 26:56.8 on Saturday. Stricker finished 31st at Shelby Farms averaging 5:25 per mile.
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Diego Donald | Rhodes | JR | Prosper, TX – Finished 16 out of 122 finishers at the Rhodes Invitational. Diego ran 26:23 over 8000 meters, leading Rhodes to a 5th place team finish in a field of 13 teams that included five DI and DII schools.
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Declan Oberlies | Sewanee | SO | Greensboro, NC – Declan Oberlies finished 27th at the Firehawk invitational this weekend, running a 27:23.18 8K, a collegiate best for the sophomore, in a field against Division II and NJCAA opponents.
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Xavier Wines | Southwestern | SR | San Diego, CA – Xavier Wines the senior from California missed the first meet due to sickness and he returned to competition in great fashion leading the Pirates with a 5th place individual finish and a time of 27:13 (5:28 minutes/mile) in the Mountaineer Hill Country Invit
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)
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.