Wheeling, W. Va. - After the release of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Men's Cross Country poll earlier today, the conference moved to the women's side. The MEC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll was released on Wednesday, with the head coaches from across the conference placing their votes. The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team finished #10 in this year's poll and are looking to grow with a young team as the season goes on.
During the 2024 season, the Cardinals had a veteran group and took advantage of that experience on the course. As they went through the season, the team faced a wide array of talent, spanning from regional opponents all the way up to the NCAA DI level. They kicked off the year at the West Liberty Invitational, giving them a chance to face their conference competition right away. They then went to back-to-back DI meets at Youngstown State and Louisville, before ending the regular season with a run at Edinboro. They would then move on to the MEC Cross Country Championships, where they had one runner finish in the top 10 of the event. They would go on to regionals to finish out the year, competing against the best of the best at Lock Haven University.
After having a veteran squad last season, the Cardinals will have a new, younger, look in 2025. Their lone returning runner is senior Gabby Baiano, who finished 50th at last season's MEC Cross Country Championships with a time of 26:32.47. She will be surrounded by five newcomers for the Cardinals, with four of those being in their freshman season. The lone veteran newcomer is Madison Conrad, who ran four years of Cross Country and Track & Field at Robert Morris University. She helped lead the Colonials to the Horizon League Championship a season ago, and is looking to help the Cardinals rise to the same level of success in 2025.
The 2025 schedule will see the team face a heavy regional schedule, with competition across NCAA DII and NCAA DIII throughout the season. They will get an immediate look at the conference when they kick-off the season on September 4th at the West Liberty Invitational. It will give the Cardinals a chance to test themselves against the top competition in the conference and set a benchmark for their training the rest of the way. The Cardinals will also get a preview of the regional course during the season, running the Lock Haven Invitational in their third race of the season. That run will be sandwiched by a pair of DIII races against Bethany College and Carnegie Mellon University ahead of the 2025 MEC Cross Country Championships on October 25th.
Leading the way in this season's MEC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll is the University of Charleston, who earned eight first place votes and 98 total points in the field. Rounding out the top three was Davis & Elkins, who earned three first place votes and 90 total points, while West Virginia Wesleyan takes the #3 spot with 85 overall points. The rest of the MEC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll looks like this:
1. Charleston - (8) 98
2. Davis & Elkins - (3) 90
3. West Virginia Wesleyan — 85
4. Concord — 73
5. Frostburg State — 59
6. Point Park — 49
7. West Liberty — 48
8. Fairmont State — 43
9. Glenville State — 30
10. Wheeling — 20
11. West Virginia State — 10
The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team kicks off the 2025 season on Thursday, September 4th, when they take on the West Liberty Invitational.
