The Thunder men's cross country team would travel to Joplin, Missouri to compete in the 2026 NCCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships on Friday morning. Sophomore, Grace Black would also compete on the women's side as she qualified as an individual. Black would race first and run a PR of 23:18 beating her previous best of 23:55. She would finish 32nd of the 44 women's runner who competed. The men's team, who was competing in the Championship race for the first time since 2013, would set multiple personal bests in their final race of the season. Freshman, Elijah Wasson would run a PR of 30:27 and finish in a team-high 55th place of the 100 runners who competed. Sophomore, Thomas Craig, who is running for the second time in the Championship race, ran a PR of 31:25, while freshman, Jack Keesecker would run of a time 33:05, a personal best for him. In his final race of his college career, redshirt-senior, Ethan Stegall would run his personal best time of 38:08, while freshman, Solomon Prillman would also run his best time of 40:10. Freshman, Donnie Mueller would set his personal best 8k time with a time of 47:21. The Thunder cross country team has now concluded their 2026 season.

How to Follow the Thunder: For complete information and to stay up-to-date with Manhattan Christian College Cross Country, visit www.mccthunder.com and follow the team's social media page on Instagram.