- Southern Utah's men won both 8K races at the UC Riverside Invitational and finished second at home, and the women placed fourth twice. Here is the Thunderbirds' 2026 regular season, meet by meet.
- Southern Utah Men's Cross Country, Southern Utah Women's Cross Country connect back to Southern Utah University and the wider track & field picture.
- The story is backed by 11 sources and a visible last-verified date.
October 17, 2026
October 17, 2026
5 min / 1,046 words
11 official links
Southern Utah's men's cross country team won both of its races at the UC Riverside Invitational this season. On September 19 the Thunderbirds won the 8K invitational race with 49 points and the 8K open race with 27, where true freshman Dax Daley took the individual title. On October 16 the men closed their regular season at Indiana State's Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, in a race of 342 runners.
The women's team placed fourth of 30 at UC Riverside and fourth at Southern Utah's own Color Country Invitational, led at different meets by fifth-year Bella Evans, sophomore Aspen Hacker and junior Angelina Lione.
Both teams are coached by Isaac Wood, Southern Utah's head coach for track and field and cross country, and both race in the Big Sky Conference, which Southern Utah rejoined on July 1, 2026. Their team pages are Southern Utah men's cross country and Southern Utah women's cross country.
How did Southern Utah's men win at UC Riverside?
UC Riverside was Southern Utah's second meet of the season, after the Utah Valley Invitational in Orem. Senior Logan Peel, a Cedar City native who ran at Cedar High School, led the Thunderbirds for the second meet in a row, placing eighth in 23:41.9. Sophomore Parker Barnes of Provo was ninth in 23:52.0, junior Tyler Saunders of Richfield was 12th in 23:58.0, sophomore Amit Cohen was 18th in 24:04.0, and fifth-year Jacob Russell was 22nd in 24:09.3. That scoring five averaged a 4:50 mile, according to Southern Utah's recap.
The open race was just as convincing. Southern Utah scored 27 points, and every SUU runner finished inside the top 50 of a 256-runner field. Daley won in 24:14.0. Sophomore Chase Evans, junior Daniel Martinez, sophomore Seth Sonerholm and fifth-year Oliver James followed in fifth through eighth, and fifth-year Samuel Lanham was 10th.
"It was definitely exciting for the men to win both the invite and the open section," Wood said after the meet.
Color Country Invitational: a podium finish at home
Southern Utah hosted its only home meet of the season, the Color Country Invitational, at Cedar Ridge Golf Course in Cedar City on October 3, against teams including Utah Valley, Utah Tech, Snow College and Fort Lewis College.
The men finished second of six teams on the 7K course with 42 points, between Utah Valley (16) and Utah Tech (72), and all seven SUU runners finished inside the top 20. Peel was fifth in 22:21.82. Chase Evans (seventh, 22:29.09), Barnes (eighth, 22:29.67) and Cohen (ninth, 22:33.63) gave the Thunderbirds four runners in the top 10.
Hacker led the women in the 5K, placing fifth in 18:43.47, and junior Nixie Killpack was 14th in 19:09.27. The women scored 95 points for fourth place behind Utah Valley (19), Utah Tech (66) and Fort Lewis (91). Utah Tech's recap of the same meet lists Snow College on 140 points and Salt Lake Community College on 143.
"Despite some surprisingly hot temperatures for this time of year, I was really pleased with the efforts of our teams, both the men's and women's," Wood said.
Southern Utah women's cross country: Evans, Hacker and Lione
At UC Riverside the women placed fourth of 30 teams with 198 points, behind only UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Biola, and they did it without Lione. Evans, a fifth-year from McKinney, Texas, whose roster profile lists Abilene Christian as her previous school, was sixth in the 6K in 20:31.4. Hacker was 29th in 20:51.1, and junior Audrey Hales of South Jordan was 39th in 21:04.8.
Wood singled out "significantly strong races today from Bella Evans, Aspen Hacker, and Audrey Hales on the women's side."
Lione returned at the University of Oregon's Bill Dellinger Invitational on October 9 and led all Southern Utah runners in 19th in the 6K in 21:08.9. Hales was 30th in 21:31.0 and Hacker 32nd in 21:32.9 as the women finished eighth with 201 points. Wood had called the meet the women's "first real shot at a big-time competition."
The men's tests in Oregon and Indiana
The men finished seventh at the Bill Dellinger Invitational with 205 points. Wood had said beforehand that the meet was "a key opportunity to sort out spots for the Big Sky Championship, even without our full lineup." Sophomore Todd Yeates led in 28th in 24:42.4, with Sonerholm 45th and senior Jonah Denison 47th.
For Pre-Nationals, Wood said the team "decided to bring our top seven guys to compete for an opportunity to score points to qualify for nationals." Southern Utah finished 33rd of 44 teams with 802 points. Peel, 176th after the first 3K, moved up to 95th by the finish in 24:16.7. Chase Evans was 135th in 24:28.7, Saunders 187th and Cohen 195th, giving SUU four finishers in the top 200.
"In most likely the largest field anyone on our team will ever run in, I was pleased with the efforts of our squad," Wood said.
What is next for Southern Utah cross country?
As of October 16, Southern Utah's Pre-Nationals recap lists the Big Sky Conference Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona, on October 30, with the men's race at 10 a.m. and the women's at 11 a.m. The schedules, checked the same day, also list the UNM Mountain Regionals in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on November 13 and the NCAA Division I Championships in Terre Haute on November 21.
For more on the in-state rivals Southern Utah raced at Color Country, see Utah Tech men's cross country and the Southern Utah school page.
Key facts:
- Coach: Isaac Wood, Southern Utah's head coach of track and field and cross country
- Conference: Big Sky, which Southern Utah rejoined on July 1, 2026
- UC Riverside Invitational (Sept. 19): men first in the 8K invitational (49 points) and the 8K open (27); women fourth of 30 (198)
- Color Country Invitational (Oct. 3, Cedar City): men second of six (42); women fourth (95)
- Bill Dellinger Invitational (Oct. 9): men seventh (205); women eighth (201)
- Pre-Nationals Invitational (Oct. 16): men 33rd of 44 teams (802)
- Men's leaders: Logan Peel (eighth at UC Riverside, fifth at Color Country, 95th at Pre-Nationals); Dax Daley (won the UC Riverside open race)
- Women's leaders: Bella Evans (sixth at UC Riverside); Aspen Hacker (fifth at Color Country); Angelina Lione (19th at Bill Dellinger)
