SAN ANTONIO -- A very successful first night of the 2026 season proved to be a melancholy affair for the University of the Incarnate Word men's and women's cross country programs on Tuesday. 

Despite a great first race of the season at the UIW Twilight, in which the men's team took first and the women's placed second, Cardinal runners felt a noticeable absence throughout the night.

Tuesday marked the first time the program has competed since the tragic death of former teammate Sam Musgrave, who was killed in a car accident over the summer at just 19 years old.

"It was a blessing to know him as a person and just to have him as a teammate," UIW sophomore Peyton Snapp said through tears during a pre-race address to the crowd. "Anytime I'd be with him, he would just make everyone smile. He had a giant presence that made everyone feel better."

In honor of his memory, Tuesday's annual season-opening race was renamed the Sam Musgrave UIW Twilight, a moniker head coach Derek Riedel expects will stick in the coming years.



Before the race began, both the men's and women's teams wore t-shirts reading "In Loving Memory of Sam Musgrave." The shirts also featured the #RunForSam moniker, which the program expects to adapt throughout the season as, a Riedel put it, "a rally and an opportunity for the team to honor him."

Several members of Musgrave's family were in attendance for the event, which Riedel hoped would serve as a great way to honor what he meant to both the cross country and track and field programs.

"We're very thankful for the opportunity to honor Sam" Riedel said. "We were very thankful that his parents and some of his extended family, his grandparents, were able to come down and watch the race. His dad told me 'We very rarely, if ever, missed a cross country race,' so we were looking forward to this."

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