It will be a younger and less experience group that toes the line for the men's cross country team in 2026.

Last year, the Coyotes placed second in the Kansas Conference Championship and were 27th out of 37 teams at the NAIA National Championship in Tallahassee, Fla.

Five of the seven runners from the team have departed, though. Damion Jackson, who won the KCAC championship and placed 57th in the NAIA, is redshirting this season. That leaves junior Evan Pearce and senior Ethan Ochana as the only returning runners who competed in Florida. Ochana placed 10th and Pearce 12th in the KCAC.

Despite the young group, the Coyotes still received votes in the NAIA Preseason Poll released last week. 

"It's going to be a group that's going to be younger than it has been in quite some time; there's not a ton of championship experience," fifth-year coach Garrett Young said. "It's a fresh batch."

Young has been pleased and impressed with Pearce in the early going.

"Evan Pearce has been the guy for us so far in preseason," he said. "He's coming off a season where he won a KCAC championship in the 3 (kilometers) indoors and finished 24th in the country in the steeplechase outdoors. Ethan Ochana will probably be up there too."

Young is counting on other returning members and newcomers to step up.

"Braulio Torres at certain times of the season last year was up there in the group," he said. "Landon Steeger looks good in preseason camp. Cohen Greve is a sophomore who ran fairly well last year, Mauricio Mendez is a sophomore that ran fairly well last year. We do have some solid pieces in place."

Young also is counting on Isaiah Smith, a transfer from Butler Community College.

"We expect him to be up there," he said.

Young said the 2026 team will be a work in progress.

"We're going to have to probably address some things throughout the season," he said. "We're trying to finagle practices to better suit the group. We've got to give them an ability to run better as a team so we'll just have to see how that shakes out and how much they can close that gap over the span of the season."

Young hopes growth will be rapid, and the Coyotes finish strong.

"I think that there's enough talent in this group to make a cross-country national appearance, and we historically have done very well in Vancouver, Washington," he said. "We would like the opportunity to be there and see what the group can do, but they've got to get through it. We have to showcase what this team has and what it's capable of over the span of the season if we want to be there."

As for the KCAC this fall:

"It's pretty much death, taxes and Saint Mary cross country," Young said.

The Coyotes open the season August 27 at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic in Hutchinson.