MEDIA, Pa. – The first runner to cross the finish line at the 2025 United East men's cross country championship race here Saturday on the campus of Penn State Brandywine was decked out in the Gallaudet University buff and blue.
First year
Sevan Ikeda (Fremont, Calif.) glided over the finish line in 27 minutes and 23.21 seconds to win the 8K race and take home three conference honors in the process. The first-place finish gave Ikeda the 2025 United East Men's Runner of the Year award and being the first rookie to finish helped Ikeda bring home the 2025 United East Men's Rookie of the Year honor. Ikeda was also named to the all-conference first team. Earlier in the season, Ikeda ran the technical and hilly course and finished second with a time of 28:19.53 on Sept. 12.
"I am thrilled to have won the championship race. I worked hard [all season] to get to this moment. I look forward to more success in the future," said Ikeda, who will next compete at the 2025 Deaflympics in Tokyo, Japan, later this month in track and field for Team USA.
The last Gallaudet men's runner to pull off this trifecta (Runner of the Year, Rookie of the Year, All-Conference First Team) was
Otto Kingstedt, a decade ago in 2015. Ikeda and Kingstedt currently hold three school record Top 10 times, each, in the 8K.
Gallaudet finished ninth overall out of 11 programs with 211 team points.
"It was a tremendous effort on everyone's part today with Sevan being our North Star leading the way to the finish," said Gallaudet coach
Byron Moore. "Sevan has worked very hard all season to accomplish this impressive championship performance. I couldn't be more pleased."
Penn St.-Berks won its first team championship with 44 points as the Nittany Lions had four runners in the top nine spots. St. Mary's College of Maryland was second (55 team points) followed by Penn College, the two-time defending champions, in third (86).
The second Bison to finish was sophomore
Jay Yang (Darien, Ill.) in 48th place with a time of 36:04. A trio of Bison made their season debut in the championship meet. First year
Joe Bryan (Liberty, Mo.) was 59th overall (38:55) followed by first year
Jack Fabian (Brampton, Ontario) in 67th place (40:53) and first year
Mohamed Elsheikh (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) in 68th place (41:16) out of 84 runners. Bryan and Elsheikh traded in their GU men's soccer cleats for cross country shoes to run in the championship meet.
Gallaudet sophomore
Trent Gobble (Austin, Texas) got disqualified from the race after two miles into the race.
UP NEXT
This concludes the 2025 season for the men's cross country team.
