In near-90-degree scorching heat, the men’s and women’s Huskers cross country teams kicked off their 2026 season on Sept. 4 at the Cyclone Preview.
The event, which featured eight total teams, was hosted by Iowa State. The women ran a five-kilometer race and the men ran six kilometers. Although the races are shorter than standard NCAA cross country races, the event offered insight into the rest of the 2026 season for the teams who participated.
On the women’s side, Nebraska boasts an experienced roster, returning nine runners from the team that finished eighth overall at the Big Ten Championship last season. They are complemented by just one new transfer and two freshmen.
Senior runner Alea Hardie was the first to cross the finish line for the Huskers in the women’s 5k. Hardie came in 12th place with a time of 17:25.1.
Hardie began her collegiate career with the Huskers in record-breaking fashion as a freshman in 2022. She became the first Nebraska runner to begin a season with three individual wins since 1987, and still maintains the all-time women’s 5k school record of 16:44.2, which she ran that same season.
Other notable finishes for the Huskers included sophomore Sydney Drevlow in 22nd place at 17:57.8 and sophomore Erin Moore in 25th place at 18:09.4.
Freshman Piper Peterson, who joins the Huskers out of nearby Lincoln Southwest High School, finished fourth for Nebraska with a time of 18:20.6.
The women finished in third place overall with 111 points.
The men, meanwhile, did more to overhaul their roster after finishing last at the Big Ten Championship in 2025. They return only six runners, who are joined by two transfers and a staggering six freshmen.
One of those freshmen, Shadrack Chilia, crossed the line first for Nebraska in the men’s 6k in 20th place with a time of 18:57.9. Chilia hails from Kwanza, Kenya, and already looks to be a strong addition for the Nebraska cross country team.
Senior Gabe Hinrichs finished just behind Chilia in 21st place at 18:59.1. Hinrichs went to high school in Elkhorn, Nebraska and was the 2021 Nebraska Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year. However, he is a new addition for the Huskers, having transferred in from Notre Dame just this season.
The Nebraska men’s only other transfer, junior Patrick Flowers, who previously ran at the University of Houston, was the fifth Husker to cross the finish line with a time of 19:24.8.
The men finished in fifth place overall with 115 points.
Leading the Huskers’ cross country squad this season are head coach Megan Elliott and assistant coach Matt Wackerly. Elliott enters her third season as head coach after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Arkansas, in which the Razorbacks won two national championships. Wackerly has great familiarity with the team, having held various positions with Nebraska over the past decade.
The Huskers continue their season in Lincoln on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Greeno Dirksen Invitational.