Eastern Illinois Walt Crawford Open 
Friday, September 4 
4:45PM at Charleston, Ill. (Tom Woodall Panther Trail) 
Meet Results

ON TAP: Eastern Illinois will open the 2026 cross-country season on Friday, September 4 when the Panthers host the annual EIU Walt Crawford Open at the Tom Woodall Panther Trail. Both the men's and women's teams will compete in the season-opening meet along with Eastern Illinois Lake Land College, Parkland College and Murray State will also be participating in the race. EIU begins with a six-meet schedule that includes four regular-season meets, the Ohio Valley Conference Championship and the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Panthers will then travel to Normal on September 18 for the ISU Redbird Invite.

NEXT UP: Following the season-opening Walt Crawford Open, Eastern Illinois will compete every other week through the remainder of the season. The Panthers travel to the ISU Redbird Invite on September 18 before competing at the Indiana State Nike XC Town Twilight on October 2 and the Bradley Pink Classic on October 16. The OVC Championship is scheduled for October 30 at the Osage Centre Fields in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, with the season concluding November 13 at the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Iowa State Cross Country Course in Ames, Iowa. 

MEN'S TEAM 

ALL-OVC RETURNER: Senior Cale Smith returns after earning second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 2025. Smith placed 12th at the OVC Championship with an 8k time of 24:45.0, which was his fastest time of the season. He also posted a seventh-place finish at the EIU Walt Crawford Open and recorded three additional sub-26-minute 8k performances during the season. 

LESMAN RETURNS: Sophomore Jiberil Lesman returns after finishing 27th at the 2025 OVC Championship with an 8k time of 25:25.3. Lesman was one of EIU's five scored runners at the conference championship as the Panthers finished fourth as a team. 

EXPERIENCED GROUP: Eastern Illinois returns several runners from its 2025 OVC Championship lineup, including Sam Cruz and Tony Pastore. Cruz competed in the first two meets of the 2025 season and previously helped EIU win the 2023 OVC team championship. Pastore competed in five meets in 2025 and posted a season-best 8k time of 26:41.7 at the conference championship. 

NEW FACES IN 2026: Eastern Illinois added several distance runners to its 2026-27 roster. Among the newcomers are Miteku Branch, Eli Crowe, Anthony Hardin and Joel Hayes, all of whom competed in cross country at the high school level. Branch finished 50th at the IHSA Class 3A State Championship as a senior, Crowe placed 18th at the Class 1A state meet, Hardin was a three-time Class 1A state qualifier, and Hayes reached the Class 2A state championship in all four seasons. 

2025 OVC CHAMPIONSHIP: The Panthers placed fourth at the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Championship with 97 points, finishing one point behind third-place Southeast Missouri. Smith and Micheal Adkins earned second-team All-OVC honors, while EIU's other top five scorers were Dillion, Aiden Gonzalez and Lesman. 

ACADEMIC SUCCESS: Eastern Illinois men's cross country earned the OVC Team Academic Achievement Award for the 2024-25 academic year. The Panthers also led the conference in Academic Medal of Honor recipients and finished second in OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll selections. 

WOMEN'S TEAM 

KRUEGER RETURNS: Sophie Krueger returns after competing in all seven meets during the 2025 season. She was third among the Panthers at the NCAA Midwest Regional in 2025, running 23:25.7. As a returning underclassman, Krueger will look to continue building on her strong first season of collegiate competition. 

YOUNG RUNNERS TO WATCH: Avery Braker and Ashlyn Denney return after gaining NCAA Midwest Regional experience as freshmen in 2025. Baker ran 23:31.0 at the NCAA Midwest Regional, while Denney finished in 24:07.6. Both runners will look to build on their first seasons of collegiate competition as EIU begins its 2026 campaign. 

EXPERIENCED GROUP: Eastern Illinois returns several runners from its 2025 OVC Championship lineup as the Panthers look to build on last season's fourth-place finish. The returning group will provide additional experience as EIU begins the 2026 season at home. 

NEW FACES IN 2026: Eastern Illinois added several distance runners to its 2026-27 roster. Among the newcomers are Amiyah Galica, Alessandra Gregory, Ava Kelley, Nyameye Maison, Amyjia Robinson and Natalie Thomason. 

2025 OVC CHAMPIONSHIP: The Panthers placed fourth at the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Championship with 82 points. EIU will look to use its returning experience and newcomers to continue building toward the 2026 conference championship. 

ACADEMIC SUCCESS: Eastern Illinois women's cross country posted a 3.69 team GPA during the 2024-25 academic year. 

2026 SCHEDULE 

Following the Walt Crawford Open on September 4, Eastern Illinois travels to the ISU Redbird Invite on September 18. The Panthers then compete at the Indiana State Nike XC Town Twilight on October 2 and the Bradley Pink Classic on October 16. EIU will compete at the OVC Championship on October 30 at the Osage Centre Fields in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, before concluding the season November 13 at the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Iowa State Cross Country Course in Ames, Iowa.