Monmouth College

Luntsford Leads Cross Country Runners at Augie Meet

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/19/2025) — The Monmouth College cross country teams ran in Blue Race at the Augustana Interregional on Saturday at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island.

"Both teams ran well despite warmer conditions than we are used to at this time of the year," said head coach Cooper Pauley. "I was pleased with how composed everyone was at the end of the first mile and the way many of our athletes were able to move up throughout the middle and back half of their races. Being smart early really paid off for us today. Improving those racing tactics will pay dividends in two weeks at the MWC Championships."

Sophomore Paige Luntsford (Cairo, Missouri) finished 44th in the Blue Race with a time of 24:33.4. Junior Samantha Costello (Morris, Illinois) ran 25:45.70 and Melissa Bivolarov (Arlington Heights, Illinois) finished 140th at 28:28.2. Freshman Amelia Iwanski (Saint Charles, Illinois) ran 29:07.2 and classmate Adyson Beebe (Clinton, Illinois) ran 29:24.2.

MEN

Sophomore Fernando Avila Rubio (Alpha, Illinois) led the men with a 152nd place finish in 28:05.2. Junior Xander Stoub (Palos Heights, Illinois) ran 29:01.9 and freshman Riley Morgan (Jewett, Illinois) finished in 29:30.5. Freshman Brady Young (Paxton, Illinois) ran 32:26.0 with
junior Larry Kamara (Alpha, Illinois) setting a new PR at 33:00.5. Freshman Braden Rees (Galesburg, Illinois) ran 33:32.3

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Kamara lowered his PR by three seconds from the race two weeks ago in Iowa ... Saturday's race included a number of regionally and nationally ranked teams in DIvision III ... The Scots are off next weekend before running in the Midwest Conference Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Melissa

Bivolarov