SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The IU Indianapolis men's cross country team had a strong opener to the 2026 season on Friday (Oct. 2) as the Jaguars finished eighth of 18 teams in the Blue Division of Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invitational. Graduate transfer Izaiah Steury placed ninth of 163 total runners in a time of 23:25.7, breaking the program's 8K record by more than 40 seconds. Fellow veteran Luke Shappell placed 19th overall in a time of 23:43.7 as the duo became the first and second runners in program history to eclipse 24 minutes. 

The Jaguars front running pair helped the program to some impressive victories on Friday, finishing just ahead of Indiana and in front of typical mid-major powers Eastern Michigan, Belmont, Akron and Youngstown State. 

"We wanted to see where we're at as a team because we're competing against a lot of our conference teams," Steury said. "This is kind of our first real test, so we just went out there with a set of mind that you we're going to do our best and to beat as much teams as possible and pack up together. And so that's what the boys did. I'm super proud of every single one of them from Luke all the way down. I was told a lot of the boys pushed it in the end, passing 10 guys at the straightaway, which is kind of a key component for us to continue to do well into the championship season overall."

Junior Joey LaPatra finished 70th overall at 24:38.6 and freshman Aidan Connors was the big mover down the stretch, charging hard to a time of 24:42.4 to finish 76th. Nick Cook rounded out the scoring group with a time of 24:43.3 to place 78th. Sophomore Eli Oetken was next in line at 24:53.3 to finish 92nd overall and Riley Nixon and Sam Grimes were 103rd and 109th, respectively. Nixon finished at 25:06.0 and Grimes crossed at 25:10.1. 

"I'm proud of how the guys competed today. As a group we executed our race well, closing hard as a pack," head coach Justin Amburgy said. "I'm happy with this opener and now it's time for the guys to lock in for the next few weeks."

Notre Dame won the event in dominating fashion with 22 points while UND's Daelen Ackley earned the individual tape in a time of 22:54.7. 

In the men's open 8K, rookie Nathan Gehrmann paced the Jaguars' five entries in uniform with a time of 25:14.40, finishing 25th of 126 runners. Just behind him, TJ Gorman crossed at 25:18.45, placing 27th overall. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Friday, Oct. 16 when they compete in the ISU Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.