Wheeling, W. Va. – After hitting the course with a young team in 2025, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams have been building throughout the off-season. With a year of experience and an off-season of hard work under their belts, the team is ready to open the 2026 schedule as they head up Route 88 for the West Liberty Tim Weaver Invitational. With talks of the course being the same one the team will run at the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Cross Country Championships, the Cardinals will look to learn the layout in their season opening meet.
The 2025 season was all about growth, with a young team featuring several starters hitting the collegiate course for the first time. The Cardinals would thrive, with several runners hitting PR's throughout the season across a schedule that featured opponents from around the Ohio Valley Region. Both teams ran identical schedules, with the top performance for both programs coming at the Lock Haven University Invitational. Seven Cardinals would set PR's between the two programs, with the freshmen getting a first look at the course that would serve as the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship meet. It helped both teams build confidence heading into their postseason runs, with the MEC Cross Country Tournament seeing both teams take 10th in the field. The year wrapped up with the Regional run, with the two Cardinal leaders each finishing within the top 110 of the race.
As they head into 2026, the most veteran Cardinal runner is Madison Conrad, who enters her second season with the Cardinals. Conrad was a force to be reckoned with on the Cross Country course a season ago, finishing just three spots shy of earning All-MEC honors. She continued that success into the NCAA DII regional Championship event, where she led the Cardinals, finishing 107th with a time of 24:05.2 across the 6 K race. She will be surrounded by a group of sophomores all looking to build on last season's success. Sophomore Luci Banks would set a pair of PR during her debut Cross Country season, lowering her 6K time in every race she ran in. Her top time would come at the Lock Haven Invitational, where she finished 40th with a time of 26:43.7.
On the men's side, the Cardinals will be looking to freshman Reddick Moore to take the reins and help build this young program. Moore missed the entire 2025 Cross Country season due to injury, but worked his way back for a strong Outdoor Track & Field season. He would run across both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs, with his top performance coming at the West Liberty Invitational. He would run the 5K with a time of 17:59.44, finishing a career-best fifth overall in the event. Moore was a standout runner at local Wheeling Park High School, and looks to translate that success into his first collegiate cross country season.
As they head into the 2026 Cross Country season, the Cardinals have upped the level of competition they will face during the season, with two NCAA DI meets highlighting the schedule. They kick things off at the West Liberty Invitational for the third season in a row, a course that could prove to determine the team's postseason fate later this season. With talks of the course being the site of the MEC Cross Country Championships, the Cardinals will look to challenge themselves and set a baseline for the rest of the season. With several of their conference competitors being in the field, Wheeling will set their marks and know what they have to reach as they get later into the season.
The Course
The West Liberty University Invitational will be run at the nearby Bethany Cross Country Course on the campus of Bethany College. Both the men and women will run a 6K course to start the season, going through the rolling hills of nearby Oglebay Park. The women will run first beginning at 6 PM, followed by the men's race at 6:45 PM with a plethora of the MEC teams being in attendance for the event. Both programs would finish ninth in last year's race, with former Cardinal Hunter Tomich leading the men in 47th (21:15.2) while Madison Conrad led the women in 21st (20:00.1).
The Details
The West Liberty Invitational is scheduled for Thursday, September 3, with the shotgun start beginning at 6 PM for the women and 6:45 PM for the men. A full recap will be available on wucardinals.com following the event.
