NAIA Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Rating
SEWARD, Neb. – For the second season in a row, Concordia University Women’s Cross Country will begin the fall with a top 25 ranking attached to its name. The Bulldogs checked in at No. 20 in the 2024 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Rating released by the NAIA on Thursday (Aug. 22). Official GPAC ratings were posted earlier in the week. Within the conference, the Bulldogs landed at No. 2 on the women’s side and at No. 3 on the men’s side. The men’s program did not receive votes nationally.
The GPAC’s preseason ratings reflect where Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads finished the 2023 season: second on the women’s side and third on the men’s side. The women went on to place 18th at the 2023 NAIA Cross Country National Championships behind All-American Kylahn Freiberg.
The Concordia women’s program now has an active streak of seven-straight NAIA top 25 ratings. The Bulldogs spent the entire 2023 season inside the national top 25, peaking as high as No. 6 in late October. Concordia earned top 10 rankings in four separate editions of the coaches’ poll. In terms of last season’s results, the top returner is junior Hannah Beintema, an All-GPAC award winner in 2023.
2023 Top 25 Ratings – Concordia Women
Aug. 24 – 23rd
Sept. 21 – 15th
Oct. 5 – 8th
Oct. 12 – 8th
Oct. 26 – 6th
Nov. 7 – 8th
The 2024 season is slated to get underway on Sept. 6 with the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls, S.D. The complete schedule can be found HERE.