Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University women's cross country team will begin its 2025 season in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the Phoenix Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The race is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, with a start time of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

This marks the second consecutive year that Northern Michigan has participated in the event. Last year, the Wildcats finished sixth at the same meet.

Jenny Ryan, head coach of the Wildcats, commented on returning to Green Bay: "We were just there last year, it is a pretty tough course, so it will be a good start to the season to see where we are at."

The team’s roster this season features senior Madi Szymanski as a leading runner. Szymanski achieved an eighth-place finish at the GLIAC Championships and twelfth at regionals in 2023, recording a personal best of 20:55.83—nearly forty seconds faster than her previous record—and concluded her season with a sixty-fifth place finish at nationals among more than two hundred sixty competitors. She missed competition in 2024 due to injury.

Other returning athletes expected to contribute include seniors Beverly Harper and Sophia Potter; juniors Lamar Gordon, Dani Van Lente, and Emma Sweeney; and sophomores Celia Wallace, Lola Korpi, and Brooke Lemos. The Wildcats have also added five new members this year. Freshmen Ashley Chopnis and Maija Maki-Warne are anticipated to have an immediate impact.

Updates during the race can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) via @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats.