St. Paul, MN - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) released the 2024 Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll on Thursday, and MLC was voted to finish second (43 points, 3 First-place votes)  The UW-Superior Yellowjackets were chosen to finish atop the conference at the UMAC Championships (47 points, 5 First-place votes) The poll is voted on by all the head coaches in the conference. 

2024 Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll
1. UW-Superior | 47 (5)
2. Martin Luther | 43 (3)
3. Crown | 36
4. Northwestern | 30
5. Bethany Lutheran | 24
6. Minnesota Morris | 23
7. North Central | 14
8. Northland | 7

The Knights have had a lot of success in recent years, especially at the conference championships where they took first place in 2021 and 2022, while finishing second last season in 2023. MLC will be returning some key returners this fall season with Maya Habben, Kate Mensching, and Hope Sulzle entering their senior seasons.

Habben has earned First Team All-UMAC honors throughout her time with MLC cross country (2021, 2022, 2023) and is looking to do more of the same in 2024. Habben earned sixth overall at the UMAC Championship in 2023 with a time of 24:36.7. Mensching was second on the MLC squad last season at the conference championship, clocking in at 25:00.1 which was good for 10th overall, giving her a Second Team All-UMAC nod. Meanwhile, Sulzle received a top-20 finish at the championships last season, coming in at 19th overall (26:06.5).

The women will begin their 2024 season at the Finanger Invite hosted by Luther College in Waseca, MN. That meet will start on September 6 at 6:30 p.m.

2024 UMAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll Press Release