WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Cross Country has its third and final regular season meet in 2026 on Friday, Oct. 16 at the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Men’s Notes
• At the last meet, back on Sept. 25 in Chicago, the men’s program had eight personal bests in the 8k race.
• Nerius White led the group for a second consecutive meet when he finished 14th out of 153 runners and was the sixth-highest Big Ten finisher out of 46 at the Lakefront Invitational. His 23:12.0 was No. 6 in Purdue history.
• Nate Assa, a sophomore, was second on the Boilers in both of the first two meets of the season. He ran 23:33.7 to record a 1:20.5 personal best and finish 45th at the Lakefront Invitational.
• Hugh Jacobsmeyer had a huge personal best at the Lakefront Invitational with his 23:39.5 that was 1:29.6 faster than his previous standard set in 2025.
Women’s Notes
• The women’s program set seven personal bests during the last meet on Sept. 25 at the Lakefront Invitational. The group ran in the 6k Open section and took the team victory with finishes in third, fourth, 13th, 22nd and 25th.
• Lauren Pegher paced the Boilers for a second time after she ran 20:39.8 to become the eighth different Boilermaker to break 20:40.0 in a 6k. It was 11th all-time in school history.
• Katherine Valentine ran 20:43.6 to finish just behind Pegher and become the 11th different Boilermaker to go sub-20:45.0. Pegher and Valentine are Purdue’s top-two finishers in both meets this season.
• Julia Economou rounded out Purdue’s top three at the Lakefront Invitation with a 37.6-second personal best (21:09.7).
Next Up
Purdue takes a two-week break before heading to Madison, Wisconsin for the Big Ten Championships on Friday, Oct. 30.
