The NCAA cross country season gathers pace this weekend, with nearly 20 Irish athletes due to compete at meetings in Missouri, Illinois, New Jersey and Louisiana.
Friday brings the Gans Creek Classic and Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational, before attention turns to the Meadows Challenge and McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Saturday. There is also a possible further Irish starter at the Cowboy Jamboree in Oklahoma.
Here is the event by event guide, with universities, Irish home clubs, race times in Irish time and links that will carry the full results.
Friday, September 25th
Three Irish Men Declared for Gans Creek Gold Race
Seán Donoghue, Frank Buchanan and Noah Harris are all confirmed for the men's Gold 8km at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri.
Donoghue represents the University of Mississippi and Dublin City Harriers AC. Buchanan, of CNDR Track Club, lines out for the University of Illinois, while Parnell AC athlete Harris represents the University of Tennessee.
The three Irish runners will compete in the leading men's race at 2:45pm Irish time. Each can count towards his university's team score by finishing among its first five athletes.
Dearbhla Allen is confirmed for the women's Black 6km at 3:45pm. The St Peter's AC athlete represents the University of Mississippi and will be part of the Ole Miss entry in the open race.
The programme begins with the women's Gold 6km at 2:00pm. The men's Gold race follows at 2:45pm, with the women's Black race at 3:45pm and men's Black race at 4:30pm.
Gans Creek Classic Start Lists and Live Results
Gleeson and Fagan Listed for Lakefront Invitational
Cillian Gleeson and Scott Fagan are the two Irish athletes listed for the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational at Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course in Chicago.
Gleeson, who represents the University of Wisconsin and Celbridge AC, is part of a Badgers squad facing a strong field that includes Washington, Washington State and Tulane. Fagan represents host university Loyola Chicago and Metro St Brigid's AC.
The public results system had not assigned either athlete to the championship or open race at the time of publication. The live timing schedule places the men's championship 8km at 3:40pm Irish time, ten minutes later than the time published in Wisconsin's event preview. The men's open 8km begins at 5:00pm.
The women's championship race begins at 3:00pm, followed by the men's championship race at 3:40pm, the women's open race at 4:20pm and the men's open race at 5:00pm.
Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational Start Lists and Live Results
Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational Event Information
Saturday, September 26th
Nine Irish Athletes Confirmed for Meadows Challenge
The largest Irish group of the weekend is due to compete at the Meadows Challenge on Princeton University's Meadows Campus in New Jersey.
Seven Irish men are confirmed for the 8km at 2:30pm Irish time. Colin Smith represents Arizona State University and Mullingar Harriers AC. Billy Coogan of Gowran AC and Sean Lawton of Durrus AC compete for Iona University.
Providence College has two Irish entries in Cormac Dixon of Tallaght AC and Liam McCay of Finn Valley AC.
Jack Fenlon of St Abban's AC and Caolan McFadden of Cranford AC complete the Irish men's group. Both represent Villanova University.
Anna Gardiner and Lorraine O'Connor are confirmed for the women's 6km at 3:15pm. Gardiner represents East Down AC, while O'Connor is a Clonliffe Harriers athlete. Both compete for Providence.
The Irish contingent could have a notable bearing on several team scores. Providence has two Irish athletes in each race, while Iona and Villanova each have two in the men's field. Five finishers score for a university, so strong runs from those pairings would put them directly into their teams' calculations.
Meadows Challenge Start Lists and Live Results
Meadows Challenge Event Information
Five McNeese Athletes Listed for Cowboy Stampede
Five Irish athletes are listed for the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede at the Enos Derbonne Sports Complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Elsa Moore of Lifford Strabane AC, Maria Murnane of Killarney Valley AC and Mollie O'Riordan, also of Killarney Valley AC, are listed for McNeese State in the women's 5km. That race begins at 2:30pm Irish time.
Diarmuid Moloney of Nenagh Olympic AC and Ryan McCarthy of Leevale AC are listed for the men's four mile race at 3:00pm.
If all five start, the Irish athletes will form a substantial part of the home university's teams. Moore, Murnane and O'Riordan could fill three of McNeese's five scoring positions in the women's race, while Moloney and McCarthy could provide two of the men's scoring five.
The live results page had not published individual declarations at the time of publication, so the five remain listed rather than confirmed starters.
McNeese State Cowboy Stampede Start Lists and Live Results
McNeese State 2026 Cross Country Schedule
Image: Providence University Track/XC
