EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The SIUE men's and women's cross-country teams will travel to west-central Indiana this Friday to compete in the Nike XC Town Twilight Meet hosted by Indiana State.
 
Both races will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, with the women's 6k beginning at 5 p.m. CT, and the men's 8k following shortly after at 5:40 p.m. CT.
 
While this will be SIUE's first appearance at the Nike XC Town Twilight, the Cougars have previous experience at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Most recently, SIUE competed at the Indiana State John McNichols Invite in 2023, with both the men's and women's teams placing 13th of 18 teams.
 
The 2026 Nike XC Town Twilight will feature 19 schools in the men's race and 20 in the women's race. Other Ohio Valley Conference schools making the trip include Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, and Southern Indiana. The meet will also feature several notable programs such as Texas Tech, Baylor, and UC San Diego.
 
The Cougars are coming off a home meet in which they had top finishers on both the men's and women's sides. Junior Erica Woodard placed third in the women's 5k with a time of 19:38.3, while junior Jack Willenborg finished seventh in the men's 8k with a time of 27:34.8.