Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan cross country team has been selected to finish in fourth place in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced by the league on Thursday.

Last year, the Wildcats were predicted to finish fifth and concluded the season in fourth place at the GLIAC Championships, marking their best performance since 2017. Grand Valley State secured the top spot in this year's poll and aims for its 24th consecutive conference title.

2024 GLIAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll:

1. Grand Valley State, 100 (10)

2. Wayne State, 86 (1)

3. Saginaw Valley State, 82

4. Northern Michigan, 73

5. Michigan Tech, 64

6. Parkside, 56

7. Ferris State, 46

8. Davenport, 40

9. Purdue Northwest, 29

10. Lake Superior State, 19

11. Roosevelt, 10

Leading Northern's returning athletes is All-GLIAC junior Madi Szymanski from Alpena, Michigan. Szymanski achieved an eighth-place finish at last year's GLIAC Championships and twelfth at Regionals with a time of 20:55.83—a personal record improvement by nearly forty seconds. She represented Northern Michigan at the National Championships and finished sixty-fifth among over two hundred sixty runners.

Junior Gianna Hoving is expected to be another key contributor after placing twenty-fourth at the GLIAC Championships and forty-fifth at Regionals with a personal best of 21:51.9 last season. Senior Skylar Grubb also aims to play a significant role following her twenty-seventh-place finish at last season's GLIAC Championship.

Alongside Szymanski, Hoving, and Grubb are sophomores Emma Sweeney, Dani Van Lente, Lamar Gordon; freshmen Celia Wallace and Lola Korpi will compete for top-ten team finishes this season.

Head coach Jenny Ryan enters her eighteenth season with high expectations for her squad: "Right off the bat I can tell we are gelling," said Ryan. "We are a young and energetic team with only two seniors—it's going to be a great next couple of years coming up."

The team's roster includes nine new freshmen and one transfer addition; all but three Wildcats hail from Michigan—with two from Wisconsin and one from Minnesota—the Green and Gold will commence their season at the Phoenix Open in Green Bay on September 6.