St. Paul, MN - The first UMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll was officially released Thursday morning, with the coaches voting on the upcoming women's cross country season.
The poll is voted on by all the head coaches in the conference. Coaches cannot vote for their own team.
After coming in second at the UMAC Championship a season ago, the Knights were voted to finish in fourth (19 points) for the 2025 season. The Crown Polars were predicted to claim the top prize come the beginning of November with 34 points (4 first-place votes).
The Knights lose three key runners in
Kate Mensching, Maya Habben, and
Hope Sulzle, who earned All-Conference recognition in their senior seasons. However, MLC brings back sophomore
Jemimah Habben, who finished eighth overall at the UMAC Championship in 2024 with a time of 24:37.6 in the 6K. Joining Habben are juniors
Liberty VanDenHeuvel and
Alexandra Schroeder, who each finished within the top-30 of all runners in the 6K a season ago.
The 2025 MLC women's cross country team will begin its season with a meet at Augustana in Sioux Falls, SD, on Friday, September 5, at 9 p.m.
Full UMAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll Release
Complete poll
1 Crown (4) 34
2 UW-Superior (1) 30
3 Northwestern (2) 29
4 Martin Luther 19
5 Bethany Lutheran 16
6 Minnesota Morris 12
7 North Central 7
