Meet Results
 
Eastern Illinois men's and women's cross country opened their 2026 season on Friday evening competing at the EIU Walt Crawford Open.  
 

The EIU men placed second in the field while the women finished first. All teams participated in a 5k race due to the intense heat in Charleston, Ill. 

Ashlyn Denney led the EIU women to a strong second place finish among Lake Land College and Murray State University. Denney placed first for the EIU women's team in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:57.0.  

Chloe Proffitt and Avery Braker crossed in 3rd overall and 6th place overall with Proffitt posting a time of 19:04.5 and Braker in at 19:15.8. Molly Robertson from Murray State University came in first place overall with a time of 18:13.7. 
 

Aly Douglass and Macie Russell were the final two EIU scored runners in the top five.  Doulass was 7th with a time of 19:45.3 while Russell finished 8th with a time of 19:49.3.  
 

Cale Smith led the Panther men finishing 7th in the field as the race was run at the 5,000-meter distance.  Smith crossed in 16:26.4.  Jiberil Lesman was just behind crossing in 8th place with a time of 16:35.0. 
 

Miteku Branch, Eli Crowe, and Joel Hayes rounded out the top five EIU runners in the meet.  Branch was 9th with a time of 16:37.3. Crowe was 11th with a time of 16:39.4. Hayes crossed in 16:53.1 to finish 15th. 
 

EIU returns to action September 18th at the ISU Redbird Invite.