London, ON - The 2026 Cross Country scheduled began with a 2nd place finish for the Mustangs Men's squad while the Women's side finished 5th.

The 51st annual event and 40th anniversary at Thames Valley Golf Course started with the Men's 8km race. 

Western had three of their top individual runners finish in the top 10 with Liam Smith, Robin Faricier & Tom Boers finishing 3rd, 7th and 9th respectively. Satveer Gill & Kirk Hallman finished the Mustangs top 5 scoring runners.

Smith finished in a time of 25:02, averaging 3:07 per KM. 

Western team score total was 50, which was 2nd behind the McMaster Marauders.

On the Women's side, they were packed closely together for most of the race and it continued throughout as they finished 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th and 27th in scoring runners. Brooke Power was the top individual finisher at 31:09.3, she was followed Sarah Luedke at 31:10.2.

The Mustangs team total was 121, in a season that will see many new names joining the team as they transition to a largely new roster, following some key graduates over the last two seasons. 

The Mustangs will head to South Bend, Indiana next weekend (October 3) to compete in the Joe Piane – Notre Dame Invitational.

WOMEN'S RACE

Place	Team	Score
1	Windsor Lancers	49
2	McMaster Marauders	59
3	Guelph Gryphons	74
4	UNB Reds	113
5	Western Mustangs	121
6	Memorial Sea-Hawks	129
7	Toronto Varsity Blues	150
8	Laurentian Voyageurs	240
9	Nipissing Lakers	286
10	Laurier Golden Hawks	294

MEN'S RACE

Place	Team	Score
1	McMaster Marauders	25
2	Western Mustangs	50
3	Guelph Gryphons	83
4	Windsor Lancers	103
5	Toronto Varsity Blue	170
6	Waterloo Warriors	192
7	Memorial Sea-Hawks	208
8	Laurentian Voyageurs	223
9	York Lions	243
10	Laurier Golden Hawks	307
11	TMU Bold	338
12	Nipissing Lakers	340