University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, October 31
St. Paul, Minn.
11:00 a.m. CT
vs
The Summit League Championship
Photo by: Collin Boyles
10/31/2026 3:12:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Sophomore Casey Poppler led men at meet in St. Paul, Minn.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Junior Olivia Pauly brought in her second career all-league second team honor Saturday at the 2026 Summit League Championships hosted by the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Sophomore Casey Poppler paced the men's team to a sixth-place finish while the women finished fifth.
Pauly, who finished 10th a season ago for All-Summit League Second Team honors, took 12th this season behind a time of 21:17.7 to lead the Tommie women. Freshmen Anna VanAcker and Miley Clark followed behind in 19th (21:50.9) and 30th (22:07.2), respectively.
Poppler, the Summit League Newcomer of the Championship in 2025, placed 20th overall in 25:04.4 while three upperclassmen followed. Senior Max Westerlund took 29th in 25:21.8, junior Ben Stricker placed 33rd in 25:31.2 and senior Adam Lueth took 37th in 25:42.0.
ST. THOMAS WOMEN'S SCORERS (6K)
Team: 5th of 8 Teams
12. Olivia Pauly (JR) 21:17.7 (All-Summit League Second Team)
19. Anna VanAcker (FR) 21:50.9
30. Miley Clark (FR) 22:07.2
32. Layla Vennink (SO) 22:10.6
34. Sophie Yetter (JR) 22:17.1
ST. THOMAS MEN'S TOP TIMES (8K)
Team place: 6th of 7 Teams
20. Casey Poppler (SO) 25:04.4
29. Max Westerlund (SR) 25:21.8
33. Ben Stricker (JR) 25.21.8
37. Adam Lueth (SR) 25:42.0
39. Nate Meyer (SO) 25:45.9
QUOTABLES
Head Men's Coach Pete Wareham on the 2026 Summit League Championships:
"We are a bit disappointed in our team finish today. The league is highly competitive so we knew the challenges. We did have some good performances including Ben Stricker who has had a very solid year. However, we were shooting for a higher team finish and a few misses along the way cost us in the end. I think we are not far off a very strong team race and we will be aiming for that at the regional meet."
Head Women's Coach Ashley Lucas on the 2026 Summit League Championships:
"Today we fell a little short of our team goals, but it wasn't because of lack of competing and heart. The women comepted with a lot of heart and I'm proud of them for that. We had a crazy amount of support on the course today which made it a super fun atmosphere. We will regroup and go back to the drawing board as we head into NCAA Regionals."
UP NEXT
The St. Thomas men and women will send student-athletes to the 2026 NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 13 in Ames, Iowa, hosted by Iowa State University.
FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Cross Country, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieXCTF. For more information on St. Thomas Men's and Women's Cross Country, follow along on Instagram at @tommiemtfxc and @tommiewxctf. Tommie Athletics is now on TikTok at @TommieSports.
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
Saturday, October 31
Wednesday, October 14
Tuesday, October 13
Monday, October 12
