Men's Cross Country | 10/23/2026 7:30:00 AM

Emporia State Cross Country
at Griffon Open
MWSU Course • St. Joseph, Mo.
Saturday, October 24 • Women's 5K at 10:00 a.m. Men's 8K at 10:45 a.m.
Live Results: mo.milesplit.com
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: MIAA Championships
Saturday, November 7 • Men at 10:00 a.m. Women at 11:00 a.m.
MWSU Course • St. Joseph, Mo.

OPENING ACT AT MIAA COURSE
Emporia State make the first of back to back trips to St. Joseph, Mo. on Saturday as they compete in the Griffon Open. Every MIAA school that sponsors cross country with the exception of Central Oklahoma and Ark.-Fort Smith are scheduled to compete along with teams from Truman, Quincy and Westminster (Mo.). In two weeks the Hornets will return to the Missouri Western campus to take part in the MIAA Championships.

LAST RUN
In a field that saw a total of 13 nationally ranked squads and teams from coast to coast competing, the Emporia State men's cross country team placed 14th and the women 18th at NCAA Pre-Nationals meet at Rim Rock Farm outside Lawrence on a Sunday morning.
The top three finishers for the men all turned in season's best times over eight kilometers.  Dylan Hunter ran 26:07.9 to place 95th while Carson Fouard was 113th in a time of 26:35.2 and Elijah Edwards ran 26:42.2 to finish 118th overall. Jordan Schierbaum was the fourth Hornet to cross the line in a time of 26:48.3 as finished 124th and was followed one spot back in 26:51.1 by Gage Chapman to round out the Hornets scoring.
Emma Bartholome was the top finisher for the Emporia State women with a time of 24:37.8 to place 128th over the six kilometers. Montgomer Morgan was 132nd in 24:39.1 while Brooklyn Nolte ran 24:47.6 to place 139th overall.  The other scorers for Emporia State were Britta Mongeau in 157th with a time of 25:33.6 while Maria Ham ran 26:20.1 to place 168th overall.

THE COACH
Justin Hill is in his third year as head cross country coach at Emporia State and will be in charge of the middle distance and distance runners for the Hornet track and field program. Hill was the director of operations and assistant cross country coach for the Hornets from 2021-24. He served as meet director for Emporia State's regular season home meets in addition to overseeing the operational aspects of the Hornet cross country and track and field programs.

BIG TEAM
The Hornets brought back five of the top six men and four of the top five women runners from last year and have a total of 20 men and 16 women in the program this year.

QUICK LOOK AT THE HORNETS
The Emporia State men finished third at the JK Gold Classic, fifth at the Ollie Isom, and 14th at Gans Creek and the Pre-Nationals. A different runner has led ESU in three of the four competitions. Dylan Hunter became the first repeat top finisher when he ran a season's best 8K of 26:07.9 at the Pre-Nationals after being the top finisher for ESU at the JK Gold with a time of 19:14.14 over 6K. Gage Chapman was top finisher for the Hornets at Gans Creek with a time of 26:40.9 over 8K. Bryce Roberts led the Hornets at the Ollie Isom with a time of 27:40.6 over the 8K course. Jordan Schierbaum has been the second runner in the first three races for ESU with Carson Fouard running second at the Pre-Nationals.
The Hornet women placed third at the JK Gold Classic, fourth at the Ollie Isom, 19th at Gans Creek and 18th at Pre-Nationals. A different runner has led ESU in three of the four races. Emma Bartholome was the top finisher for the Hornets the last two meets with a time of 24:37.8 at Pre-Nationals after running 23:37.5 over 6K at Gans Creek. Montgomery Morgan led ESU runners with a time of 19:46.41 at the JK Gold while Brett Jacobsen was the top Hornet finisher at the Ollie Isom in 20:53.3 with both races going 5K. 

LAST TIME IN ST. JOE
Both the Emporia State men and women placed fourth in the team standings at the Griffon Invitational in 2025. Treyton Laurance led the Emporia State men with at top ten finish. He completed the 8K course in 26:36.35 to place tenth.  Carson Fouard ran 26:54.54 to place 13th and join Laurance in the top 20 overall.  Lucas Kreutzer was the third runner for the Hornets with a time of 28:03.07 and 22nd place finish. Mason Bina led the Hornet women, placing 11th overall with a time of 19:19.31 over 5K. Brooklyn Nolte and Emma Bartholome joined her in the top 20 with Nolte running 19:38.31 to place 17th and Bartholome clocking in at 19:43.75 to finish 18th overall.  
   
HOW TOUGH IS IT?
The MIAA has four women's teams and four men's teams in the USTFCCCA National three 25. The MIAA and RMAC are the only leagues with at least three teams ranked in both the men's and women's polls.

UP NEXT
The Hornets will return to St. Joseph for the MIAA Championships on November 7.