COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou’s women’s cross country team has been picked to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference heading into the 2026 season by the league’s coaches, while the men’s team has been selected seventh, the conference announced Wednesday. 

The women’s fifth-place projection continues a steady climb in the league’s preseason poll, with its top-five placement marking its best since 2021 and after being picked seventh in 2025 and 11th in 2024. The men, picked fourth a year ago, were tabbed seventh in this year’s poll.

Missouri opens the 2026 cross country season on the road, beginning with the Iowa State Cyclone Opener on Friday, Sept. 4 in Ames, Iowa, a preview of the Iowa State course that will host this year’s NCAA Midwest Regional Championship in November.

The Tigers’ lone home regular-season meet is the eighth annual Gans Creek Classic on Friday, Sept. 25, the first race at Gans Creek since Missouri hosted the 2025 NCAA Cross Country National Championship.

Missouri will also host the 2026 SEC Cross Country Championship on Friday, Oct. 30 at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course, the second time the venue has hosted the league championship after previously doing so in 2021.

Missouri returns 18 individuals from its 2025 roster, headlined by All-American and All-SEC First Team honoree Monica Wanjiku. The Tigers closed the 2025 campaign with the women placing 28th at the NCAA Championship, the program’s 13th appearance on the national stage, while the men finished seventh at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship.

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