Dukes Place Third at Sun Belt Cross Country Championship

Friday, October 30

Foley, Ala.

10:15 a.m.

James Madison University

Sun Belt Conference Championship

Mullane Baumiller, Sidney Walters, and Anna Pucilowski celebrating after the finish line at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championship.

10/30/2026 5:00:00 PM | Cross Country

Results Photo Gallery

FOLEY, Ala. – Three runners finished in the top 20 to lead James Madison to a third-place showing at the 2026 Sun Belt Championship on Friday morning at the Graham Creek Nature Preserve.

Freshman Anna Pucilowski paced the Dukes with a personal-best 5K time of 17:37.2 for sixth, followed by Sidney Walters (8th – 17:42.3) and Mullane Baumiller (15th – 17:56.3). Ariana Logsdon (28th – 18:16.1 (PR)) and Taylor Myers (29th – 18:16.8 (SB)) rounded out the scoring for JMU.

Louisiana took home the team title with 46 points (3-5-7-12-19), while Southern Miss finished runner-up with 81 (2-11-14-23-31), narrowly beating out James Madison's 86-point effort (6-8-15-28-29). Rachel Withrow of Marshall captured the individual crown, crossing the finish line in 16:15.7.

The Dukes' scoring five posted an average 5K time of 17:57.7 with a spread of 0:40. Meanwhile, their top seven averaged 18:13 – good for second at the conference meet. Overall, the program has recorded a top three team finish in three out of five seasons in the Sun Belt: 2022 (Third), 2023 (Second), and 2026 (Third).

Up next, JMU will have a tune-up at Virginia Tech's Hokie Open on Friday, Nov. 6. The women's 4K is slated to begin at 4:45 p.m. at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.

Quoting Head Coach Rebekah Ricksecker
"The thing I'm most proud of is the winning mentality we've had this entire season, led by our incredible captains Sidney Walters and Faith Ford, our seniors Sidney and Elizabeth Rainey, and our top performer of today and the majority of the season, Anna Pucilowski. That mentality helped us jump from sixth place last year to third this year. The team really went all-in and fought today, and I'm proud of everyone's effort and heart. A special congrats to our all-conference athletes Anna Pucilowski, Sidney Walters, and Mullane Baumiller. This was a massive breakthrough race for Mullane in particular, as she PR'd by more than a minute and moved up incredibly well in the second half of the race, securing key points for us. Ariana Logsdon also had a huge race and was the third-fastest freshman of the meet. Excited for the whole team to carry this momentum into the Regional Championship in two weeks."

How It Happened

After sitting in seventh at the first kilometer, the Dukes moved up one spot as a team every kilometer for the remainder of the race.
Walters jumped six spots over the final kilometer for her second consecutive top-10 finish at the championship meet.
Baumiller made significant strides during the race, going from 56th after 1K all the way to 15th over the next four kilometers.

JMU Runners
6. Anna Pucilowski – 17:37.2 (PR)
8. Sidney Walters – 17:42.3
15. Mullane Baumiller – 17:56.3
28. Ariana Logsdon – 18:16.1 (PR)
29. Taylor Myers – 18:16.8 (SB)
40. Carol-Anne Garrett – 18:31.4 (SB)
59. Madison Cole – 19:08.1
60. Elizabeth Rainey – 19:11.9 (SB)