WHITEWATER, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's and women's cross country teams competed at the 2026 WIAC Championships hosted by UW-Whitewater on Saturday afternoon. Both teams finished eighth at the conference meet.

Men's Highlights
The Pioneers totaled 242 points to place eighth, with UW-La Crosse winning the championships with 27 points.

Leading the way for UW-Platteville was freshman Bennett Story, who placed 59th overall with a time of 26:51.3. In second for the team was freshman Bradyn Wendorff's time of 27:00.5, which was good for 64th overall.

Just a couple seconds behind Wendorff was freshman Kelton Koepp, who took 67th while running a 27:03.2 in the 8k race. Rounding out the top five for the Pioneers were freshmen Kaden Reiss and Jonny Golke, who took 73rd and 78th, respectively. Reiss posted a time of 27:18.8 with Golke coming in at 27:31.8.

Freshman Will Johnson was named to the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team at the conclusion of the meet.
 
Women's Highlights
UW-Platteville finished with 257 points to take eighth, with UW-La Crosse also claiming the women's title with 23 points.

Freshman Tori Browning was the team's top finisher in the 6k, placing 67th overall with a time of 25:01.0. Freshman Grace Fretz was not far behind, running a 25:15.6 to finish 70th.

Freshman Elli Johnson was the third Pioneer to cross the finish line, taking 80th with her time of 26:08.2.

Concluding the scorers for UW-Platteville were freshmen Ella Mathews and Hailey Heiar, who placed back-to-back for 85th and 86th. Mathews ran a 28:14.1 with Heiar at 29:17.4.

Following the meet, Browning was named to the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will return to the course on Saturday, November 14 at the NCAA North Regional Championships. The regional meet is in Northfield, Minnesota at the St. Olaf Campus Course.