JACKSONVILLE, Fla., - The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) previews the 2026 Men’s and Women's Cross Country Championships that will be hosted by EKU in Richmond, Kentucky on October 30.

The women’s 5k championship will be held at 10:30 a.m. ET with the men’s 8k championship following at 11:15 a.m. ET. Both races will be broadcast on ESPN+.

The ASUN Preseason women’s favorites, the Lipscomb Bisons, are looking for a fifth consecutive title and 13th overall ASUN championship. The Bisons were ranked 8th in the latest USTFCCCA South Regional rankings, placing ahead of power conference members such as Ole Miss, Georgia and UCF. ASUN Preseason Women’s Runner of the Year, Harley Kletz, has led the Bisons this 2026 season, highlighted by an eighth-place finish in the Loyola Lakefront Invitational (9/25) where she established a new Lipscomb 6k program record.

Three ASUN men’s teams rank inside the top-15 of the USTFCCCA South Regional rankings, led by the Bisons at sixth. Lipscomb was picked first in the ASUN Preseason men’s coaches poll with Max Hooper selected as the ASUN Preseason Men’s Runner of the Year. The Bisons have won two meets this season at the Belmont/Vandy Opener (9/1) and the Michael Pretorius Invitational (9/26). Hooper set a Lipscomb 8k record at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational where he finished 12th overall in a meet with multiple nationally ranked teams.

North Florida ranked 11th in the South Region and has finished in the top six of all four meets the men’s team has competed in this season. The Ospreys won the Florida Intercollegiate XC Invitational (9/4) and finished second in the Queen City Invite (9/11) as well as the Georgia Tech Invitational (10/2).

Checking in at 14th is FGCU who has yet to finish worse than 3rd as a team through four meets in the 2026 campaign. The Eagles have claimed two second-place finishes including a runner-up result at the Nike XC Town Twilight (10/2).