ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) will crown its women's cross country champion on Saturday afternoon at the Highland 9 Cross Country Trailhead in St. Paul.
The 2025 MIAC Cross Country Championships will be the second conference championship meet held at the Highland 9 (2022), as well as only the second off-campus location for the race since the MIAC's nearly two-decade tenure at Como Park from 1998-2016. Augsburg, Hamline, and St. Catherine are the designated hosts for the 2025 conference meet.
The women's 6K race is slated for a noon start. Championship Saturday will officially get underway an hour earlier with the men's 8K race at 11:00 a.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP 101
Since 1981, five different schools have won MIAC women's cross country championships, including St. Olaf, which took home the 11th title in program history last fall. St. Thomas holds the MIAC record with 17 total team titles, including the first nine from 1981-89. Carleton ranks second all-time with 13 team championships, followed by St. Olaf with 11.
The Oles won both the men's and women's team titles at the 2024 Cross Country Championships, marking the first time that feat had been achieved since Carleton swept both cross country crowns in three consecutive seasons from 2017-19.
St. Thomas has had the most individual champions with 10, while Carleton has seven, St. Olaf has six, and Bethel, Macalester, and Saint Benedict have each had five race winners. Carleton senior Hannah Preisser is back on the course to defend her individual title in hopes of becoming the seventh woman in recorded conference history to win back-to-back 6K crowns.
HANDING OUT THE HARDWARE
Once the results of the 2025 MIAC Cross Country Championship are tabulated and deemed final, a short awards ceremony for both women's and men's races will follow around 1:00 p.m. The top 15 runners in each race will be honored with All-Conference distinction, while runners finishing in places 16-to-25 will be named Honorable Mention. The championship team will also be honored with the presentation of the MIAC Championship trophy.
Individual awards for Athlete, Rookie, and Coach of the Year will be formally announced on Thursday, November 6.
CHAMPIONSHIP APPAREL
Official championship apparel for the 2025 MIAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships is on sale now. The limited-time online store powered by UNRestricted MKTG features short-sleeve t-shirts, long-sleeve t-shirts, and hooded sweatshirts to commemorate the 2025 conference championship meet. Orders will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3, and will ship 10-14 days after the store closes. Official 2025 MIAC Cross Country Championship apparel can be ordered here.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
There is no admission fee to attend the MIAC Cross Country Championships. Parking is available on both sides of Montreal Avenue, Edgecumbe Road, and the neighborhoods around the golf courses. Bicycles and non-service animals are strictly prohibited at the course. Please leave bikes and pets at home.
Fans who are not traveling to St. Paul will have access to unofficial results soon after the action concludes, courtesy of Wayzata Results.
The MIAC has a championship home page for the event, which will include results and photos as they become available.
| Championship Home Page | Top Times | Course Map | Parking | Unofficial Meet Results | Apparel |
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS
Ten of the top 15 runners from the 2024 MIAC Championships have competed again this fall, including Carleton senior Hannah Preisser (1st), St. Olaf senior Lauren Walda (3rd), Gustavus senior Molly Liston (5th), Carleton junior Aliya Larsen (6th), St. Olaf senior Ella Landis (7th), St. Scholastica junior Regan Niemi (8th), Macalester sophomore Kate Fox (9th), St. Olaf senior Isabel Wyatt (10th), St. Olaf senior Grace Moeller (12th), and St. Scholastica junior Grace McCormick (13th).
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg sophomore Alwena Brix (Plouay, France / Lycee Jean Mace, Rennes) has led the Auggies at every race this season, including a personal-best time of 17:05.1 on the 4K course at the Kent Finanger Invitational on 10/11.
Bethel first-year Lucy Upton (Cedar Grove, Wis. / Living Word Lutheran) placed 12th overall in her first collegiate 6K race with a time of 23:23.9 at the Hamline Invitational on 9/12. That race was held on the Highland 9 course.
Carleton senior Hannah Preisser (Chapel Hill, N.C. | Carrboro) returned to the Knights' lineup at the Connecticut College Invitational on 10/18 and placed sixth overall out of 261 finishers. Preisser crossed the finish line at 21:02.42, helping Carleton to a seventh-place finish as a team at the 33-team meet that featured 16 nationally-ranked squads. Her 6K time is the fastest in the MIAC this season. Preisser has finished third, second, and first at her three previous MIAC Championship appearances.
Concordia sophomore Ashley Nelson (Rice, Minn. / Sartell) led the Cobbers at the Roy Griak Invitational on 9/19 with a 6K time of 24:38.5. Nelson's finish was the third-best among all D-III runners in the women's race.
Gustavus senior Molly Liston (Richfield, Minn. / The Blake School) was the top individual finisher out of 211 runners at the Dan Huston Invitational on 10/4 with a 6K time of 21:45.7. Liston became just the fourth Gustie in program history to break 22 minutes in the 6K.
Hamline senior Brooke Baumann (Howard Lake, Minn. / Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted) posted the top 6K time of her Division III career at the Pipers' home invitational on 9/12, crossing the finish line in 17th place with a time of 23:50.4. Baumann previously competed in a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Cross Country Championships as a runner at NCAA Division II Minnesota State Moorhead in 2022 and 2024.
Macalester junior Ingrid Norquist (Minneapolis, Minn. / Anoka) placed 12th out of 349 runners at the Augustana Interregional Invitational on 10/18. Her time of 22:03.3 ranked fourth among North Region runners and helped the Scots take 17th out of 40 teams at the meet that included 11 nationally-ranked programs.
Saint Benedict senior Mary Kenney (Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge) posted a career-best 6K time of 22:27.8 at the George Oja Invitational on 10/18. Kenney opened the 2025 campaign with a runner-up performance at the Toni St. Pierre 5K Invitational on 9/5, crossing the finish line in 19:06.9.
St. Catherine first-year Nora Lindeman (St. Louis Park, Minn. / St. Louis Park) crossed the finish line in 24:51.8 at the Roy Griak Invitational on 9/19, good for the fastest finish by a Wildcat at the meet since 2018. In her debut season, Lindeman has also added a pair of third-place results at the 5K (Toni St. Pierre Invitational on 9/5) and 4K (Kent Finanger Invitational on 10/11) distances.
Saint Mary's sophomore Mya Slavin (St. Charles, Minn. / St. Charles) broke the tape in a personal-best time of 23:55.7 at the Augustana Interregional Invitational on 10/18. Slavin's 6K time was just four seconds shy of the program record.
St. Olaf senior Lauren Walda (Fort Wayne, Ind. / South Side) won the women's 5K race at the Ole Opener on 8/29, helping the nationally-ranked Oles to a first-place team finish. Walda's time of 18:52.3 was the best in the field by nearly four seconds. Walda began her senior campaign by recording three consecutive top-five finishes.
St. Scholastica junior Regan Niemi (Bemidji, Minn. / Bemidji) clocked the fastest 6K time of her career at the Blugold Invitational on 10/3, placing 11th overall with a time of 22:48.7. She has finished among the top 20 at both of her previous MIAC Cross Country Championship races in 2023 and 2024.