Wheeling, W. Va. - When the 2025 Cross Country season began, the Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team was beginning a new era. They were entering their first season under Head Coach Greg Schmitt and featured a roster that consisted of six newcomers, with five of those being freshmen. They had several strong individual performances throughout the season and set a strong foundation for the team to build off in the future as they continue to grow the program. 

The Cardinals would start out the year at their annual Bob Creamer Memorial 3K to help them get ready for the West Liberty Invitational. Wheeling would finish 9th in the field, but had two runners in the top 50 of the event to start the season out strong. The Cardinal's top three runners would hold strong throughout the season, as Madison Conrad, Gabby Baiano, and Luci Banks would hold the top three spots throughout the year. After finishing with only individual scores at the Bethany Invitational, the Cardinals would have their biggest day of the season at the Lock Haven Invitational. Of the five runners in the field, four would finish with PR's on the day. The Cardinals would pick up their first top 10 finisher of the season at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational, and carried momentum into the MEC Cross Country Championships. Wheeling would just miss out on having a runner crack the All-MEC list by three places, but put one in the top 25 and two in the top 60 to round out the day. The year came to an end at the NCAA DII Regional Championships, where all but one Cardinal had their first regional experience. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals throughout the year was junior Madison Conrad, who finished just three spots away from her first All-MEC honor. She would finish the 2025 MEC Cross Country Championships sitting 23rd overall with a time of 24:46.3. She would be the Cardinal's strongest runner throughout the season, with her best stretch coming in the final two weeks of the regular season. It began at the Lock Haven Cross Country Invitational, where she finished 5th overall with a time of 23:56.2, setting a new collegiate PR in the 6K event. She would follow that up two weeks later at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational, where she set her 5K PR with a 55th place finish, running a time of 18:59.3. It was the first time she cracked the 19-minute mark in a 5K during her collegiate career and was a strong finish to the regular season. 

For four years Gabby Baiano had led the Wheeling Cross Country program, and she brought her career to a strong end in 2025. She would run in four of the five races for the Cardinals, and was consistently the Cardinal's second fastest runner. Her best run would come at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational, where she ran a time of 20:10.2 to set her new 5K PR. Baiano would round out her year with a 57th place finish at the MEC Conference Championships, putting together a time of 26:54.7, as she ran in her final MEC Championship of her career. Rounding out the top runners for the Cardinals was Luci Banks, who was an impact player in her first year. She would consistently lower her times throughout the season, setting her 6K PR at the LHU Cross Country Open. She finished 40th overall at the race, with a time of 26:43.7, cracking the 27 minute mark in just her third collegiate race. She would add her 5K PR at the CMU Invitational, rounding out a strong season for the freshman. 

As they look to the future, the Cardinal Women's Cross Country program has a strong foundation to build on moving forward. Next year's roster will see the return of all but one runner from this year's squad and, with Schmitt having a full recruiting year, he will be able to add to that talent. Under Schmitt's watch, the Cardinal runners reached new heights during the season, consistently setting PR's week in and week out. Every runner who competed this season set at least one PR in the field, and two of the freshmen were able to set multiple PR's throughout the season. The continuity of the group looks to continue to grow into the distance portion of Indoor Track season, and set them up for a long run of success in the future. 

The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team heads into the off-season, as they attack the distance portion of Indoor Track & Field.