St. Paul, MN - The UMAC Men's Cross Country poll was voted on by all of the coaches in the conference on and the MLC Knights were predicted to finish second, announced by the UMAC on Friday.

The Knights earned 27 points and received the only other first-place vote, alongside UW-Superior, which garnered 36 points (6 first-place votes). MLC finished second in the 2024 UMAC Championship behind the Yellowjackets.

Head Coach Mark Weinkauf enters his sixth season in charge of the MLC men's cross country program and brings back a couple of incoming sophomores who had impressive freshman seasons a year ago.

Eliott Heiderich returns after placing ninth overall at the UMAC Championship with a time of 27:36.6, and Daniel Ertman will join him again after taking 16th overall (28:34.4) in the event. Both runners earned Second Team All-UMAC honors.

Junior Elijah Hutchinson is the key returning upperclassman for the Knights. Hutchinson took 22nd overall with a mark of 29:06.2 in the conference championship.

The MLC men's cross country team will hold its first meet on Friday, September 5, at 9:00 p.m. at Augustana in Sioux Falls, SD.

Complete poll
1 UW-Superior (6) 36
2 Martin Luther (1) 27
3 Crown 26
4 Bethany Lutheran 20
5 Northwestern 19
6 Minnesota Morris 11
7 North Central 8

Full UMAC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll Press Release