TULSA, Okla. -- Sophomore Abigail Stucker opened the 2026 season with an 11th-place finish Thursday night (Sept. 3), leading the John Brown University women's cross country team to seventh among 17 teams at the Rogers State (Okla.) Distance After Dark at the Mohawk Sports Complex.
Stucker covered the 5K in 18:13 as the Golden Eagles scored 209 points and posted a team time of 1:37:30. Host Rogers State captured its fifth consecutive Distance After Dark title with 45 points and a team time of 1:31:04.
Behind Stucker, a trio of freshmen filled JBU's next three scoring spots. Allie Robertson finished 31st in 19:13, Emma Hunt followed in 48th at 19:39 and Layla Maline crossed 55th in 19:51. Sophomore Edith Bell rounded out the scoring five in 20:31, finishing 87th. Just 2:19 separated Stucker and Bell.
The opener was designed as something other than a flat-out race. Head coach Peter Cunningham sent the Golden Eagles out in controlled packs for roughly the first half of the night before giving them the green light to move through the field. Even with a 10 p.m. start, temperatures remained near 90 degrees on the flat soccer-field loop.
"I'm incredibly proud of how the squad executed the assignment for the night," Cunningham said. "We typically use this meet to shake off the racing rust and practice various racing tactics. We assign relatively controlled paces to each pack for about the first half of the race, then challenge them to hunt as many people as possible from there. This meet gives us a lot of confidence for what the season has in store."
John Brown returns to action Friday night (Sept. 11), at the Queen City After Dark – hosted by Missouri State, Drury (Mo.) and Evangel (Mo.) – in Springfield, Mo.
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