Cross Country looks to hit the ground running in 2025

The Troy cross country team is mired in preparation for the 2025 season, where the Trojans are slated for four regular season meets across the state. Following a rough finish to the 2024 season at the Sun Belt Championships, a young Troy team looks to grow and improve. 

“Last year, I thought we made some good progress training wise and being more savvy in racing,” said cross country head coach Brian Cunningham. “With such a young roster, making those steps lead to better performances down the road.” 

Troy Athletics photo

The Troy women's cross country team races in a 2024 meet.

Last season, the Trojans didn’t have a single senior on the team and retained a large part of the squad heading into 2025. Cunningham pinpointed consistency and a successful summer as a large component of the team’s development. 

“We made some really impressive steps in the track season, especially the outdoor season, last year,” Cunningham said. “I anticipate us using that as a springboard into this fall and seeing continued progression. 

“We’re certainly going to be stronger as a group, with another year of growing as a family.” 

Some of Troy’s top runners are back, including Keith Warner and Caden Blackman on the men’s team and Makenna Calbert and Reece Knowlton on the women’s side. Warner earned a Sun Belt Runner of the Week award last October and added multiple podium finishes during the outdoor season in the 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10000m races. 

“As [Warner and Calbert] have gotten more and more comfortable in those roles and more and more consistent in their training, they’re folks that we’re looking at to lead the charge,” Cunningham said. “There’s any number of people that could come up and be pushing right next to them, quite honestly.” 

Cunningham said the team had a strong summer and put in bulk mileage, which helped numerous runners take the next step. 

“Virtually everyone had a really good summer, and I think some of the folks that we saw make steps in track season are going to be people that continue to make steps,” Cunningham said. “That could be literally anyone on the roster at this point, and I think it would be unfair to name specific names because they all did so well this summer.” 

The summer looks to be a good launching point for the Trojans, who have four meets before heading to Foley, Ala., for the Sun Belt Championships at the end of October. 

“We ran a lot in the summer, and we were able to stay injury-free, so everyone came back very fit,” Cunningham said. “My job now is to sharpen people up and get them ready for racing at the conference meet in a couple of months.” 

Troy kicks off the season on Aug. 29 with the JSU Foothill Invitational in Oxford, Ala. It will be Troy’s fifth straight season opener at the event – the Trojan women placed fourth last season, while the men finished fifth.