August 25, 2025
Cross Country Primed for 2025 Season
The Men's and Women's cross country teams are finishing up preseason workouts and ready to open the 2025 season on September 5th at the Central Dutch Invitational in Pella, IA.
Coming off of a historic 2024 season, the women's cross country team looks to continue their upward trend this season as the Eagles return their top three runners: Carlie Blevins, Becca Hulinsky, and Lydia Mueller. in 2024, All three runners reached the individual qualifying mark for the NCCAA National Championship meet, and Blevins and Hulinsky ran their way to All-American status at Nationals. Blevins set a school record for her 6k time at the Les Duke invitational and the team placed fourth at Nationals, their highest team finish in program history.
in 2025, Blevins has once again jumped into the top spot, with Hulinsky and Mueller bringing veteran experience and running well in spots 2 and 3. two newcomers, Jelena Bausch and Leah Leary round out the squad, filling the last two scoring spots. During the regular season, the women's team will run three 6k's and four 5k's, while postseason will still be run in 5k format.
The men's cross country team is ready to make a statement this season, bringing in a good mix of returners and newcomers. The Eagles finished the 2024 season posting an eighth place team finish at the NCCAA National championship with three individual qualifiers (Owen Festler, Titus Loween, and Ethan Smith). Faith returns three runners to the team: Ethan Smith, Andrew Hackley, and Ben Hackley. Smith took his place in the top three spots throughout the 2024 season, while Andy and Ben continued to bring veteran leadership while pushing the top five as the team's upperclassmen.
in 2025, newcomer Brian Rohde has sprinted into the team's top spot during preseason workouts, with Ethan and Brandon Smith following closely behind. Newcomers Christian Farr and Max Johnston, along with Senior vets Andy and Ben Hackley round out the men's squad and will battle to fill the last two scoring spots. The men's team will start the year running a 6k at the Central Dutch Invitational, which will not count towards qualifying times. The rest of the regular and postseason races will be run in 8k format.
Head coach Ryan Long said "I'm excited about the coming XC season! It will be fun to watch these teams grow stronger and faster throughout the year, so stay tuned as we progress through the first few meets of the year!"
