NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The 2026 Yale men's cross country schedule was released Monday, with the first competition scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4. The Bulldogs have four meets before the championship season starts, with the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships set for Saturday, Oct. 31 in Attleboro, Mass.
The Bulldogs are entering their third season with
Courtney Jaworski as the team's Mark T. Young '68 Director of Cross Country and Track and Field.
Kyle Basista returns for his third season as Yale's Head Coach of Men's Cross Country, Assistant Coach of Men's Track and Field.
Laura Broderick returns for her third season as assistant coach.
Rising senior
Daegan Cutter (San Anselmo, Calif.) is Yale's captain.
Here is a breakdown of the 2026 schedule:
- The team will open the season on Friday, Sept. 4 at the Friar Invitational. Held in Attleboro, Mass., this meet gives the Bulldogs a chance to compete at the site of the 2026 Ivy League Championships. Last year it featured six teams (Brown, BU, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Providence and Rhode Island) competing in a 6K.
- The Bulldogs are at the Maribel Sanchez Souther Invitational, hosted by Dartmouth, on Saturday, Sept. 19. Last year this meet featured four teams (Dartmouth, Northeastern, UMass and Vermont) competing in an 8K.
- On Friday, Oct. 2, the team will head to Bethlehem, Pa., to compete in Lehigh's Paul Short Run. This meet often draws some of the best teams in the country. The Bulldogs won the Gold Race (8K) here three years ago. Last year they placed 11th out of 40 teams. Yale's top returning finisher is rising senior Daegan Cutter (San Anselmo, Calif.), who placed 45th overall.
- The Bulldogs will compete in the Princeton Fall Classic on Friday, Oct. 16. This event debuted in 2024 and has featured ranked teams. This year will mark Yale's second time competing in it.
- The Ivy League Heptagonal Championships take place Saturday, Oct. 31, in Attleboro, Mass. Four of Yale's top seven finishers at this meet last year are back, led by Cutter (who was 22nd overall).
- On Friday, Nov. 13, Yale's top seven will head to Farmingdale, N.Y., for the NCAA Northeast Regional. Cutter is the Bulldogs' top returning finisher from last year's regional meet, having finished 41st. The Bulldogs' fifth-place finish last year marked their second straight top-five finish at Regionals, the first time they have achieved that feat since 2003-2024. At this meet last year, Owen Karas '26 and Kenan Pala '26 qualified individually for the NCAA Championships by placing 11th and 12th respectively.
- Based on the results of Regionals, the Bulldogs may have the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday, Nov. 21. Here are the NCAA's selection criteria for teams and individuals:
- The top two teams at each of the nine regionals qualify for the national championships automatically, and 13 at-large teams will be selected by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee.
- From each NCAA regional meet, the first four student-athletes to finish – among those not on a qualifying team – will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships. The committee will then select two at-large individuals by identifying the highest non-qualifying individual finishers at the regional meets. All individual qualifiers must finish in the top 25 within their region.
