Cross Country Teams Start Season at Loras
Men finish fourth out of 10 teams
MONMOUTH, Ill (09/05/2026) — The Monmouth College cross country teams started their seasons Friday night at the Bob Schultz Invite, hosted by Loras. The men finished in fourth place out of 10 teams.
Xander Stoub (Palos Heights, Illinois) finished 14th in the 5000 meter race with a time of 16:34.9. Andrew Peterson (Galesburg, Illinois) made his Monmouth cross country debut after running track last year and finished 19th in 16:42.1. Fernando Avila Rubio (Alpha, Illinois) finished 24th in 16:51.2 and freshman Dawid Opiloa (Arlington Heights, Illinois) finished 29th in 17:01.3. Freshman Wyatt Hall (Oneida, Illinois) was 45th in 17:43.5 and Riley Morgan (Jewett, Illinois) placed 52nd with a time of 18:15.5. Braden Rees (Galesburg, Illinois) ran 18:20.6 to place 54th, just ahead of freshman Jack Wayne (Yorkville, Illinois) in 18:25.4. Larry Kamara (Alpha, Illinois) was 87th in 21:20.1.
The women did not get a team score and were led by freshman Morgan Sheley (Lincoln, Illinois) in 29th place with a time of 22:04.4. Mellissa Bivolarov (Arlington Heights, Illinois) finished 42nd in 24:05.8.
"We were surprised with some rain and lightning pre-race that forced us to combine the races," said head coach Cooper Pauley. "However we got some cooler temps as a result and both groups responded well. We're excited to carry the momentum into Grinnell next weekend."
Both teams will run at the Les Duke Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa next Saturday.