For the first time since 2014, Thunder men's cross country will compete as a team at races this Fall. The men's team has the five runners needed to compete and score as a team. Returners from last season are sophomore, Thomas Craig, who qualified for the NCCAA Cross Country National Championships in 2025 and redshirt-senior, Ethan Stegall. Craig ran his personal best in 2025, a 32:13 8k, at the National Championships, while Stegall only competed in two races and ran a personal best 39:04 8k at the Last Chance Meet in Seneca, Missouri. The three freshman runners are Jack Keesecker, Elijah Wasson, and Donnie Mueller on the men's side.

The women add one runner to their team as sophomore, Grace Black returns for year two for the Thunder. Black was on the cusp of qualifying for the NCCAA National Championship and would run a personal 25:17 5k at the Firestarter Classic in Iola, Kansas and have her best finish of third at the Last Chance Meet. Joining her this season is freshman, Emily Forshee. Both teams will compete in five regular season meets.

First year Thunder head coach, Drew Hill, had this to say about his teams going into this season, "This team has been working incredibly hard so far this year and I am very, very proud of them. I am excited for them to get the opportunity to put that hard work into practice and finally get to run in the races. Our theme this year for our team is peace. We do not want to get rundown and lose focus of the real reason why we are here and that is to glorify God. So no matter if we get first place or last place, we are going to thank God for the opportunity and the fellowship that we have as a team and as the body of Christ."

The Thunder cross country teams will run their first race Friday, September 11th at the Ollie Isom Invitational hosted by Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. The women will start their race at 9:00AM and the men will start at 9:45AM.

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.