The Valparaiso University men's and women's cross country programs have announced their 2026 schedules, as assembled by Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vincent Walker.
 
The slate will once again begin with the team's annual home meet, the Winrow Open, on Friday, Sept. 4 at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso. This will mark the 37^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 Minneapolis for the Roy Griak Invite hosted by the University of Minnesota on Sept. 18. That will mark a homecoming of sorts for Walker, who served as an assistant coach for the Golden Gophers before taking the helm of Valpo's program.
 
For the seventh consecutive season, the Beacons will make the familiar short instate trip to Notre Dame for the Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 2. This year, that will be followed by the Indiana State Pre-Nationals hosted by the Sycamores on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute.
 
Drake will host the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 30 in Des Moines, Iowa, before Valpo visits the NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Nov. 13 in East Lansing, Mich.) and hopes to have qualifiers for the NCAA National Championships (Nov. 20 in Terre Haute, Ind.).
 
Sophomore Samantha Rowley (Barrington, Ill. / Barrington) cracked the program record book at sixth in program history in the 6k as a rookie last season, while redshirt junior Laetitia Raoult (Guingamp, France / Florida International) appears in the program record book in both the 5k and 6k.
 
On the men's side, sophomore Joey Yaros (Bloomington, Ill. / Normal Community) owns an all-time top-10 time in the 10k, while sophomore Braden Hoff (New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln-Way Central) is coming off a strong track & field season including the second-fastest outdoor 1500 in program history.