Meet the 2026 Team

 ​​​Graham Blanks – Harvard (2025)

A Harvard graduate from the class of 2025, Graham Blanks returns to the Ivy Ekiden Team.  Graham has been lighting up the Diamond League circuit and notched a close second place finish at the 5k in Monaco. In 2025,  he had an 11th place finish in the 10k at the World Track and Field Championships in Tokyo and then finished 4th on the highly competitive 3rd stage at Izumo. As a professional runner for New Balance, Graham has PBs of 26:57 in the 10k and 12:47 in the 5k. Graham’s achievements also include a 9th place finish in the 5k at the 2024 Paris Olympics, 2x NCAA Cross Country Champion, 9x All American, and 7x Ivy League Heptagonal Champion. As one of the most accomplished Ivy League distance athletes of this era, Graham is a huge addition to the Ivy League Ekiden roster.

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Derek Amicon – Cornell (2025)

A Cornell graduate from the class of 2025, Derek Amicon is back on the team for second time.  Moving up in distance this past year, Derek has recorded a fresh 10k PR of 28:33 and hopes to improve upon his stellar showing in last year's ekiden. In 2024, he placed 48th at the NCAA XC Championships with a time of 29:31 for the 10k and later went on to win the 3k steeplechase at the 2025 Heps Championship. A computer science major at Cornell, Derek trains and works remotely from Arlington, Virginia where he lives in a house with some of his old Cornell teammates and runs for The Enclave.  

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Acer Iverson – Harvard (2024)

A Harvard graduate from the class of 2024, Acer Iverson is another of the four returners on this year's Ivy Ekiden team. A 5x Heps Champion across the grass and track, Acer has fresh PBs of 28:20 in the 10k and 13:18 in the 5k and ran a fantastic 1:01:15 to win the Grandma's Half Marathon. During the 2025 Izumo Ekiden, Acer finished 3rd on the 5.8km second stage. At the 2024 Izumo Ekiden, Acer ran an excellent fourth leg, completing the 6.2-kilometer segment in 17:46, the second fastest by any runner that day. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in computer science, Acer competed as a graduate student at the University of Washington, dropping his PB in the 3k and mile to 7:41 and 3:56, respectively and now runs for Union Athletics.

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Tyler Berg - Columbia (2023)

A Columbia graduate from the class of 2023, Tyler Berg is the fourth veteran on the 2026 Ivy Ekiden team. In addition to his PBs of 28:23 in the 10k and 13:33 in the 5k, Tyler brings his experience of running the Izumo Ekiden in both 2024 and 2025. Tyler finished fourth overall on the 4th stage in 2025 to help lead the team to 4th place overall. In 2024, he finished third on the 8.5-kilometer third leg in a time of 24:59. Previously, while running for Notre Dame as a graduate student in computer science, Tyler finished 13th in the 10k at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. 

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Myles Hogan - Princeton (2026)

A Princeton graduate from the class of 2026, Myles was the 2025 Heps XC Champion and has earned multiple All American honors for 5000m. Myles boasts PBs of 13:20 for 5k and 3:38 for 1500m. He will be attending graduate school and running track for the University of Oregon.

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Jackson Shorten - Princeton (2026)

Also a Princeton graduate from the class of 2026, Jackson was the 2024 Heps Champion in the steeplechase and qualified for the steeplechase final at the 2026 USATF Championships. Jackson has a PB of 8:25 in the steeple and 13:49 in the 5k. He will also be running track for the University of Oregon as a graduate student. 

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Damian Hackett - Cornell (2025)

A Cornell graduate from the class of 2025, Damian was a 6x Heps Champion earning 4 individual (mile/1500m) and 2 relay championships (4X800, DMR). His PBs include 3:36 for 1500m and 13:48 for 5k. Damian has a degree in mechanical engineering, lives in Washington, DC and runs for The Enclave.

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Nick Bendtsen - Princeton (2025)

A Princeton graduate from the class of 2025, Nick was a 4x Heps Champion and 2x All American. Nick holds PBs of 13:35 for 5k and 28:12 for 10k. Last year, he competed as a graduate student for the University of Virginia and helped the Cavaliers to win the ACC XC Championship and  finish 7th as a team in the NCAA XC Championship. Nick's older brother, Chris, ran for Princeton and competed on the 2015 Ivy Ekiden team.

 

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