Rock Island, Ill. – The Wheaton men's and women's cross country teams competed at Augustana College's Interregional Invitational on Saturday afternoon in the Quad Cities. The Wheaton men placed 30^th in the 37-team field that featured eight nationally ranked teams. The Thunder women's program finished 31^st in a 35-team field that featured 10 nationally ranked squads.

Top-ranked Wartburg College finished first in the men's standings with 64 points, followed by No. 11 North Central in second with 107 points. Fourth-ranked UW-La Crosse rounded out the top-three with 121 points.

Michael Osielski was the top performer for the Thunder men with a time of 25:53.8 on the 8K course. He finished 135^th in the 352-man field. Josh Steiner was 163^rd with a time of 26:06.1, while Joshua Cross was 180^th with a time of 26:11.3. Jude Hubbard was 217^th in 26:26.6, and Ethan Meadows was 235^th in 26:38.0.

No. 3 UW-La Crosse was the top women's team with 67 points, while fifth-ranked UChicago was second with 137 points. Seventh-ranks WashU finished third with 177 points.

Sophia Huber was the top performer for the Wheaton women on the 6K course. Huber finished 137^th in the 309-woman field with a time of 23:04.9. Eleanor Wolf placed 194^th in 23:47.0, while Tess Ganski was 224^th with a time of 24:10.3. Laynie Ripley posted a time of 24:18.0 in 237^th place and Amber Prentice was 282^nd with a time of 25:22.4.
The Thunder cross country teams return to action on October 31 at the 2026 CCIW Cross Country Championships. The conference meet is at St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville.