The Valparaiso University cross country program has announced the schedule for its 2025 slate, which begins with the team's annual home meet, the Winrow Open, on Friday, Aug. 29 at Sunset Hill Farm County Park.
 
The festivities begin with the program's third annual Alumni 5k at 4 p.m. that day. Interested alumni can register for that event by clicking here. The alumni race will be followed by the collegiate meet, with the women's 5k beginning at 5 p.m. and the men's 6k to close the day at 5:45 p.m. This will mark the 36^th running of Valpo's home meet, which is named in honor of former head coach Ed Winrow, who passed away in March 2020.
 
The first road trip of the year will feature a destination new to the squad's schedule as the Beacons head to Western Michigan's George Dales Invite in Kalamazoo on Sept. 19. The meet will take place at The Prairies Golf Club with the women's 6k starting at 9 a.m. Central / 10 a.m. Eastern followed by the Jack Shaw men's 8k at 9:40 a.m. CT / 10:40 a.m. ET.
 
Valpo's remaining two meets prior to the conference championship will both be return trips to locations that have been on the schedule in previous years. The Beacons will make the familiar short instate trip to Notre Dame for the Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 3, marking the sixth straight season that Valpo has raced in that meet. The Beacons head to the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 17 at Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill. Valpo will participate in that race for the 10^th time in the last 11 seasons.
 
Evansville will host the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championship (Oct. 31) and the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Nov. 14). Qualifiers will head to the NCAA National Championships in Columbia, Mo. on Nov. 22.
 
The Beacons bring back runners of both genders who established all-time top 10 times last season. On the women's side, redshirt sophomore Laetitia Raoult (Guingamp, France / Florida International) ranked ninth in program history in the 5k and second in the 6k last season, while junior Vivian Rahmel (Springfield, Ill. / Sacred Heart-Griffin) is coming off a season that saw her turn in a 6k time that ranks fourth in program lore. For the men, senior Joseph Scheele (Mahomet, Ill. / Mahomet-Seymour) is the program recordholder in both the 8k and 10k, while junior Karson Hollander (Crystal Lake, Ill. / Crystal Lake) also turned in top-10 times in both races a year ago.