Women's Cross Country

MIAC announces 2026 Women’s Cross Country Awards

FARMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its annual award winners for women's cross country on Thursday. 

| 2026 MIAC Women's Cross Country Awards |
 
Macalester senior Ingrid Norquist earned MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year honors, while Carleton first-year Abigail Burns received the Rookie of the Year award. Carleton head coach Donna Ricks was named MIAC Coach of the Year. The MIAC also recognized its All-Conference and Honorable Mention runners from last Saturday's conference meet.
 
Norquist (Minneapolis, Minn. / Anoka) was named MIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year after finishing first at the 2026 MIAC Cross Country Championships with a 6K time of 21:48.6. Norquist is the third Scot since 1995 – and the first since 2015 – to receive MIAC Athlete of the Year honors in women's cross country.
 
Burns (Iowa City, Iowa / Iowa City) received MIAC Women's Cross Country Rookie of the Year honors after being the first first-year athlete to cross the finish line at the 2026 MIAC Women's Cross Country Championships. Burns placed second overall with a time of 22:24.9 on the 6K course. Burns is now the third Carleton runner to be named MIAC Women's Cross Country Rookie of the Year since the award was launched in 2022.
 
Ricks (34th season) was recognized by her peers as the MIAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the 15th time in her career after guiding the Knights to their tenth conference title in the last 13 seasons. Carleton placed three runners in the top five and scored five in the top 10. Ricks is the only coach in MIAC women's cross country history to be honored with double-digit Coach of the Year selections.
 
In addition to the top individual honors, the MIAC Women's Cross Country All-Conference and Honorable Mention runners were also recognized. The top 15 finishers in Saturday's MIAC Championship race received All-Conference honors, while finishers 16-25 received Honorable Mention.
 
Nine of this year's 15 All-Conference honorees were also All-MIAC or Honorable Mention in 2025, with St. Scholastica's Regan Niemi becoming the 55th runner in recorded MIAC history to earn All-MIAC honors at least three times in women's cross country.
 
A complete list of 2026 women's cross country honorees can be found below.
 
| 2026 MIAC Women's Cross Country Awards |