Under the lights at Fun Valley Sports Complex in Hutchinson, Kansas, the Dodge City men's cross country team kicked off the 2026 season at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic for the tenth consecutive year. 

The Conquistadors raced to a third-place team finish on the night led by a top-five individual performance. 

Josue Vega led the Conqs, earning a fourth-place finish after finishing 14^th at the same event last season as a freshman. Vega posted a time of 20:28.77, over a minute faster than his time last year at the same event. 

A time of 22:22.66 was the second-fastest for the Conqs as freshmen; Asher English earned a 12th-place finish out of 60 runners. Eddie Salinas Millan improved his time from last year, placing 16^th with a time of 22:48.36.

Freshman Rylan Johnson ran a time of 23:43.41 to place 26^th, while Elijah Kisner started his sophomore year for the Conqs with a time of 23:54.17 to finish 29^th. Finishing out the Conq performances was Jose Chavez Ramirez as he posted a time of 25:21.00 to place 46^th. 

Conqs are back under the lights for their next race of the 2026 season as they make the trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete at Rogers State Distance After Dark on Thursday, September 3^rd.