CHANNAHON PARK, Ill. — Eli Tyrpin ran his way into the Indiana University Northwest record book Friday, posting the fastest men's 5K in program history as the RedHawks opened the 2026 cross country season at the St. Francis Twilight, held at Channahon Community Park in Channahon, Illinois.
Tyrpin crossed the line in 17:52.73, the top all-time mark by an IU Northwest men's runner, and led the RedHawks men to a ninth-place finish out of 12 teams. The women's team, behind a program-record pace of its own, placed sixth out of 11 teams.
Senior Katie Plopper paced the IU Northwest women with a personal-record time of 21:15.93, a mark that moves her onto the program's all-time list. Freshman Nora Loebbert was right behind her in her collegiate debut, running 21:41.44 to slot into seventh place on the all-time list.
Sierra Grant also impressed in her first collegiate race, finishing in 22:53.55 — a lifetime personal best by seven seconds. Addison Waddell rounded out the RedHawks' scoring five with a time of 24:04.34.
On the men's side, Tyrpin's program record set the tone as sophomore Alec McDonald followed in 20:53.93 in his collegiate debut, with Owen Tyrpin close behind at 21:19.26, also in his first collegiate race.
Freshman Jordan Warnell turned in one of the day's biggest jumps, cutting more than three minutes off his previous best to finish in 24:30.01. Christopher Kotul rounded out the RedHawks' effort at 24:31.00, also in his collegiate debut.
IU Northwest will look to build on the strong season-opening showing next week at the Ken Weidt Classic, hosted by Concordia University Wisconsin on Sept. 12 in Mequon, Wisconsin.
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Indiana University Northwest
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