Wheeling, W. Va. - As the preseason schedule continues for the Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team, the young program prepares to take the next step forward in 2026. On Wednesday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released its annual preseason poll, and the Cardinals were picked #11 in the vote by the coaches. With a young team in tow, the Cardinals are looking to defy the preseason odds and climb their way up the MEC conference standings. 

During the 2025 season, the Cardinals were getting their legs under them in college Cross Country, battling a schedule that would feature mostly local opponents. The year kicked off with the Cardinals' highest team finish of the year, taking ninth at the West Liberty Invitational, but as the year went on, the Cardinals saw several PR performances. It was a fall of individual successes for the Cardinal runners, and they headed into the MEC Cross Country Championships with many facing the challenging Oglebay Course for the first time in their careers. The Cardinals would finish 10th in the field but improved their individual results from the year prior. Wheeling had a runner finish just three spots away from earning All-MEC honors and rounded out the year with three runners taking on the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships for the first time in their careers. 

As they enter the 2026 season, the team that was comprised of mostly freshmen last season returns four runners from last year's squad. Leading the way is the lone senior of the group, Madison Conrad, who became the leader for the Cardinals in 2025. After transferring in from Robert Morris University, Conrad would show her experience throughout the season. At the conference championship event, Conrad would be the leading runner for the Cardinals, finishing 23rd in the field and just three spots shy of the All-MEC honors. All but one runner currently on the Cardinal roster has collegiate running experience, and they look to build off their successes from a year ago. Luci Banks would be the top freshman runner at last year's conference championship, finishing 78th overall, and she will look to be another key runner for the Cardinals this season. 

After facing mostly local opponents in 2025, the Cardinals are branching out to a deeper competition field in their 2026 schedule. After opening at the West Liberty Invitational, the Cardinals will compete in their first NCAA Division I meet in two years when they travel to Robert Morris University on September 11th. They follow that up with their second Division I meet of the year, heading to Youngstown State, before finishing the regular season at Carnegie Mellon University on October 10th. It will be the final tune-up before the conference championship event, set for late October. The Cardinals will be looking to use the stiff competition that they face during the regular season to prepare them to climb the ladder at the MEC Championships. 

Leading the 2026 MEC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll was Davis & Elkins University, earning seven first-place votes and 104 total points in the vote of the conference head coaches. Right behind them was the University of Charleston, receiving four first place votes and 101 total points, while Point Park earned 92 total points. The rest of the 2026 MEC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll is listed below: 

The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team begins their 2026 season on Thursday, September 3, when they head to the West Liberty Invitational.