Racers Continue Progress at Pre-Nationals

Friday, October 30

Des Moines, Iowa

Murray State

MVC Championships

10/17/2026 8:42:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Murray State Returns October 30 for MVC Championships

By: Charlie Williams

The Murray State Racers competed in the 2026 Under Armour Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana on Friday.

Molly Roberson highlighted the women's effort in the 6k, placing 27th with a time of 21:31.3 after setting a program record with a time of 21:07.7 her last time out. Autumn Egleston (22:23.3), Alyssa Moore (22:55.9), Morgan Bissonnette (23:01.7), Abigail Crask (23:08.0), Hannah Crain (23:27.4), Freya McFadden (23:42.6), Emma Kendall (24:23.2), and Hallie Mosier (23:33.2) rounded out the effort for the Murray State women.

Nick Schmitz (25:47.7) led the Murray State effort on the men's side, placing 88th in the 8k. Gab Russell was close behind, finishing with a time of 26:01.4 while Jackson Lafser (26:16.0), Dylan Ellis (26:22.0), Noah Gray (26:22.1), and Tedros Henderson (27:31.5) rounding out the men's effort.

"There are some good things to take away from the meet," said coach Jordan Johnston. "I'm really happy with how hard Nick, Gabe, and Jackson battled throughout their race. I think it was a breakthrough for Jackson in the 8k and hopefully gave him some confidence moving forward. Nick has always been a good strategic racer and can feel pace well. My hope is for him to be able to repeat that in two weeks when the field size is much smaller at conference. The ladies had a bit of an off day. Their overall times were good but I like to see more competitiveness out of them in the last few kilometers of the race. But once we clean that up they will have a performance they're really proud of at conference."

Up Next
The Racers return to action on Friday, October 30 in Des Moines, Iowa for the MVC Cross Country Championships.