Butler's 2026 cross country schedules have been announced for both the men's and women's programs.

Both of coach Matt Roe's Butler squads open the season Friday, Sept. 4 at the Illinois Twilight, hosted by the Fighting Illini. The teams will then travel to East Lansing, Mich., the following Friday for the Spartan Run and a look at the Forest Akers East Golf Course that will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional two months later.

Each of the teams will also get a competition on the 2026 NCAA Championships course as the men will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., Sept. 19 for the John McNichols Invitational on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, while the women will run on the same course at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet Oct. 16.

Butler's women will make the short drive north to Notre Dame for the Joe Piane Invitational Oct. 2 in the final tune-up for the ladies prior to the conference meet.

The Butler men will also face a nationally-elite field Oct. 9 in Madison, Wis., at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational. The Thomas Zimmer Cross Country Course recently served as the site of the 2024 NCAA Championships and the 2023 NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

The Butler men and women will reunite for the BIG EAST Championships, slated for Friday, Oct. 30 in Mechanicsville, Va. The Butler men have won four of the last six conference titles.  
 
The NCAA Great Lakes Regional is slated for Friday, Nov. 13 in East Lansing, Mich., and the NCAA Championships return to Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 21.
 
The Butler men come off a 2025 campaign that saw the Bulldogs win the BIG EAST title, finish second in the Great Lakes Regional and place 16th nationally at the NCAA Championships. All-American William Zegarski, fresh off a tenth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, headlines the returning Bulldogs. That group also includes Brendan Thomas, who qualified for the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Track and Field East First Round last month.
 
Butler's women finished sixth at the 2025 BIG EAST Championships and return several of their top performers from a young roster a season ago in Hannah Moore and Mckenna Mazeski; they are joined by a talented incoming recruiting class.