Stoney Creek's cross country program opened its 2026 season with personal bests and promising freshman debuts at the Lamplighter Invitational on Friday, Aug. 21, at Ford Field in Livonia.

The meet drew roughly 1,500 runners, with races stretching under the lights well past dark. The Cougars delivered.

Senior Lexi Schwartz led the varsity girls to a 15th-place team finish with a lifetime personal best of 20:17, running 23 seconds faster than her time at the same meet last year and nearly a full minute faster than last season's opening race. Sophomore Leigh Sapp and senior Tessa Kozlowski both cracked the top 100, with Kozlowski — who ran through injury troubles — finishing just two seconds behind Sapp. The varsity girls, who didn't take the starting line until 11:05 p.m., narrowly edged OAA White rival Berkley.

On the boys side, junior Aidan Schwalbach turned in a 12th-place individual finish in 16:32, more than a minute faster than his time at the same meet last year. Senior Tim Minfield III clocked 18:18, his fourth-fastest time ever and by far his quickest season opener. Senior Ben Barkham followed in 18:39, also a career-best opener. The varsity boys placed 22nd in what the Stoney Creek athletics program described as a highly competitive field, competing without a couple of key runners.

The JV girls stole attention early in the evening. Three freshmen led the squad to a third-place finish out of 13 teams: Shea Smith placed 19th overall, Margaret McCarthy 21st and Emma Basile 22nd.

The JV boys cracked the top 10 as a team, with sophomore Jay Strausbaugh placing 21st in 18:41 and freshman Logan Byrnes posting a 20:24 in his high school debut.

The program said its focus remains on championship races in October, describing itself as a late October and November team that expects to peak when the stakes are highest.