Shaving over a minute off his time from last year, James Johnson led Simpson to a title at the Bill Buxton Invitational to start the 2025 cross country season.

Competing on its home course, Simpson dominated the leaderboards, taking four of the top-five spots and seven in the top-10. Johnson, along with Cole Leggett, paced the Storm pack with their second and third place finishes respectively.

The freshman class wasted no time putting their mark on the Storm women’s cross country program, pacing Simpson to a dominating victory.

Ava French led the way for the Storm, posting a sub-17 minute mark on the 4k race, while Simpson took all seven of the top spots on the leaderboard. Top returner Kate Huisinga placed third on the team despite besting her time from last year’s invite by 1:17 minutes. Five of the top seven finishers for Simpson are of freshman standing.