The Colorado College cross country teams enter the 2026 season at the top of the mountain after sweeping the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles for the fifth consecutive year in 2025.
 
The 2026 season gets underway on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the UCCS Rust Buster Meet in North Monument Valley Park, beginning at 9:15 a.m.
 
The men's team won an unprecedented seventh consecutive SCAC title at the league's championship meet, while the CC women won for the fifth straight time. Both teams advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships, where the women finished 23^rd and the men 25^th.
 
Alex Nichols, the six-time reigning SCAC Men's Coach of the Year and five-time Women's Coach of the Year, clearly states the goal is to get back to the national meet.
 
"Both teams are coming into this season with a large group of younger runners ready to make a difference," Nichols said. "We had some key student-athletes graduate last year, but we are still looking to build upon last year's performances. Getting back to the national championship this season will take hard work and guidance from the upperclassmen. It's a challenging goal, and this group is looking forward to taking it on."
 
Despite the graduation of 2025 All-American Alison Mueller-Hickler, fellow All-American Charlie Flint, a senior, returns to lead the women's squad. The expectations for the women's team remain high, and a No. 23 national ranking in the Division III preseason poll speaks to that.
 
CC claimed 10 of the top 14 spots at the SCAC Meet last year, with five of them returning in '26.
 
Flint leads the way after finishing second to Mueller-Hickler at the SCAC Meet last year. She placed sixth at the West Region Meet and 30^th at the DIII National Meet.
 
Senior Mary Cate Kiser, junior Tessa Olsen and sophomores Sadie Honig and Ellie Ottem are also back after collecting all-SCAC honors last season.
 
The men's program heads into the 2026 campaign looking for its eighth straight conference title.
 
Juniors Vincent Mangat and Diego Escalante lead five returning Tigers that were named all-SCAC by finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, at the conference meet.
 
Sophomores Zach McNaul and Lincoln Brewer placed 11and 12, respectively, while senior Eric Coombs finished 14th.