PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College men's and women's cross country will host one home meet and preview both the Conference and Regional Championship courses during the regular season as part of their 2026 schedule. 
 
The River Otters will compete in eight meets this Fall - with the goal of sending at least one student-athlete to the NCAA DIII Championship Meet for the seventh-straight season. 
 
Cross country will kick off the season at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon for the second-straight season. Lewis & Clark will host the Lewis & Clark XC Opener on Friday, September 4 at 10 a.m. Last season, the River Otters welcomed NCAA DI schools Oregon State University, Boise State University, Portland State University and the University of Portland as part of a loaded field. The men's team placed fifth out of 11 squads and junior Quinn Higgins placed seventh overall out of 135 runners. Women's cross country placed ninth out of 12 teams and senior Malia Heien came across in 14^th out of 110 runners. This year's meet will feature Oregon State University, alongside NAIAs Lewis-Clark State, Corban University and Warner Pacific University. 
 
The two River Otters teams will travel to NCAA DII Western Oregon University the following Friday for the Ash Creek Invitational. Lewis & Clark will head to Monmouth for the fifth-straight season and look to build upon some strong results. In 2024, women's cross country defeated a field of seven teams and Western Oregon barely held off men's cross country - who placed second out of eight teams. Last season, the men's team took third place out of eight teams and the women's side placed fifth out of 10 teams. Higgins (sixth) and fellow 2026 seniors Sam Garcia (12^th), Emil Miller (13^th) and Evan Markelz (14^th) all finished in the top-15 in the field in 2025. 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday, September 19 for the Pacific Lutheran Invitational. The race will serve as the team's first event of the season raced on a full-length course (6K for women and 8K for men). The men's team placed tied for second at last year's PLU Invitational and Higgins finished fourth overall. The women's team finished in ninth place behind a fifth-place showing from Heien. 
 
The River Otters will close out the regular season with a pair of tune-ups ahead of the Northwest Conference Championship Meet. 
 
On Saturday, October 3, Lewis & Clark will travel to Spokane Valley for the Frank Knott Classic. The meet will be the first time the River Otters will have a chance to compete on Whitworth's new course: The Course. The Pirates will also be hosting the NCAA DIII West Regional Championship in November and the October meet will be sure to attract a strong field and serve as a barometer for teams ahead of the postseason. Cross country will be competing in Spokane for the first time since the 2023 NCAA DIII West Regional Championship, when the women's team placed ninth and the men's team finished tied for ninth. 
 
The River Otters will close out their regular season with another postseason meet preview. They will travel to Salem for the George Oja Invitational on Saturday, October 17. The races will be run on the Oak Knoll Golf Course – which will also be the site of the Northwest Conference Championship Meet two weeks later. The Oak Knoll Golf Course is one of the fastest courses in the region. Markelz (first all-time), Higgins (eighth), Garcia (10^th) and Miller (26^th) all ran PR times and posted top-30 times in program history at Oak Knoll earlier in their careers. 
 
Lewis & Clark will open the postseason on Halloween with the NWC Championship Meet. The women's 6K will start at 10 a.m. and the men's 8K will commence at 11 a.m. The last time the NWC Championship was held at Oak Knoll Golf Course, both Lewis & Clark teams finished in fourth place. Senior Riley Buese ('25) won the 2024 women's individual title by 34 seconds with Heien finishing fourth overall. Markelz joined Buese and Heien on the NWC All-Conference Team by finishing fourth in the men's race. Last Fall, Higgins (eighth place) and Garcia (ninth) each earned their first career All-Conference honors and Heien (10^th place) joined the duo on the NWC Second Team All-Conference Team. 
 
Cross Country will return to The Course in Spokane Valley on Saturday, November 14 for the NCAA DIII West Regional Championship Meet. The women will race at 10 a.m. and the men will start at 11 a.m. Last season, women's cross country finished 14th overall at Regionals and the men's team placed 15^th. Heien placed 11^thoverall to earn her third-straight trip to the NCAA DIII National Championship Meet. Higgins (52^nd) and Garcia (53^rd) led the men's team. Both programs finished outside the top-10 at Regionals for only the third time in the past 16 seasons. Lewis & Clark will look to reverse that trend in Spokane Valley and aim to send a runner to Nationals for the seventh-straight season. 
 
This year's NCAA DIII National Championship Meet will be hosted by Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota on Saturday, November 21. The Knights will welcome nearly 600 student-athletes to the Bill Huyck Cross Country Course. Cross Country has not competed in the state of Minnesota since 2012, when they traveled to Minneapolis for the Griak Invitational.