Dordt Picked in GPAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll

Dordt University is the defending conference champion, with Hastings placing second last fall.  Concordia was third in the conference last fall.

The 2023 GPAC Cross Country Championships are Saturday, November 4 in North Sioux City, South Dakota, and will be hosted by Briar Cliff University at the Adams Nature Preserve. 

Coaches could not vote for their own team in the poll.

2023 GPAC Preseason Women's Cross Country Coaches' Poll:

2023 GPAC Cross Country Team Previews – Provided and Written by the Head Coaches

Briar Cliff University

Head Coach: Scott Barnes

2022 GPAC Finish: 11^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: Our women were young last year as well. Pluma Pross had a breakout year dropping two minutes off her time. She along with some depth that Lexi Webber, Riley Antonino, Maria Russell and Jalen Pike gives us should be a good crew for our young kids to follow. 

College of Saint Mary

Head Coach: Derek Fey

2022 GPAC Finish: 6^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The College of Saint Mary 2023 team returns all members of their team that competed at the conference meet last fall, which was the highest finish in program history. The incoming freshman class is strong and will have several members vying for a spot in the top seven. The Flames will be looking to finish higher at the GPAC meet than last year. GPAC track and field and cross country medalist Chloe Inhelder returns for her senior season. Inhelder qualified individually for the national cross country meet in 2022 and will be looking for a top 10 finish at the GPAC meet in November.  "We have been building momentum over the last couple seasons and with everyone returning from last fall, as well as adding some very talented first year runners, I'm extremely excited for the upcoming season," College of Saint Mary Head Cross Country Coach Derek Fey said.

Concordia University

Head Coach: Matt Beisel

2022 GPAC Finish: 3^rd

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The Concordia women's cross country team is poised for placing well at GPAC in 2023. On the women's side, although we graduated Amie Martin (#6 runner on National XC team) we return the rest of our All-Americans, national qualifiers and All-GPAC runners including Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Freiberg, Keegan Beisel, Julie McIntyre, Rhaya Kaschinske, and Hannah Beintema. Our incoming freshman class is talented and accomplished, and includes 2-time state XC Champion Keeli Green and State XC Champion Alayna Vargas. They will adapt well to the 6K distance.   Rylee Haecker and Kylahn Freiberg are the top two returning runners for the Concordia women, and will work together to lead the women's team. Haecker led the Bulldog squad in track as multi-time GPAC Champion in the Mile and 1500, and capped off her season with a school record and All-American time of 4:33 in the 1500. She has qualified for XC nationals two consecutive years and run 18:30 in the 5K. Freiberg, also a multi-time XC National Qualifier and All-American, was the 1000-meter National Runner up this year, and ran an 18:04 5K on the track this spring. We have the potential to place top two in the GPAC, and qualify as a team for the National Championships in November. Our depth should help us and we are eager to make the most of this season before we lose some talented runners to graduation in May.

Dakota Wesleyan University

Head Coach: Matthew Rosado

2022 GPAC Finish: 12^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: We bring in some young talent that should be able to make an impact right away, excited to continue to grow and get stronger. Freshman Abby Hasart has competed at a high level throughout her high school career and looks to bring hat drive to the Tigers. She will be a huge part of our women's programs growth and ultimate success. With a young group I hope to gain experience early that can help us come championship time. These ladies are tough and we'll build upon that all season.

Doane University

Head Coach: Brad Jenny

2022 GPAC Finish: 7^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The Doane women's cross country team will have a good mix of experienced leadership and new incoming runners. They return all but one of last year's squad and add a large group of freshmen/transfers to the team. As this group starts working together they are looking to be much improved from last year.  One of the runners to watch on our women's team is Jaden Hilkemann.  Jaden is excited that the marathon is back in the NAIA and is looking to have a great cross country season in preparation for the late fall marathon.  She put up some of her best track marks last spring and will use that momentum going into the cross country season.  "I am excited to see how this group of women come together and improve throughout the season.  This group is filled with great character and work ethic and I believe they will thrive in the team culture that has been established in our women's cross country team."

Dordt University

Head Coach: Nate Wolf

2022 GPAC Finish: 1^st

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The Defender women return a bevy of runners from their 2022 GPAC Champion team and 8^th place national championship finish.  The team is led by past conference champions Jessica (Kampman) Walczak and Taylor (Anema) Droog.  Additionally, returning All-Conference performers include Kristine Honomichl, Lucy Borkowski, Molly Mulder, and Anika Homan.  The team opens its season at home with the Sunflower Opener on September 9. 2022 GPAC Runner-of-the-Year, Jessica (Kampman) Walczak is the Defender female runner to watch.  (Kampman) Walczak returns for her fourth season having earned All-American finishes the past three seasons (31^st, 20^th, 9^th).  She looks to build on a strong 2022-2023 running campaign that saw her race to individual conference championships in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.  "Jessica has quietly put together some very strong training in preparation for this season," said Dordt Head Coach Nate Wolf. "In spite of a busy summer with many personal transitions.  She is a dedicated runner and excellent teammate who will have a huge impact across our entire team." Wolf added, "This team has tremendous returning experience to lean on, but also an exciting influx of young runners to build with.  It will but fun to see these ladies come together and coalesce into the 2023 version of Dordt University Women's Cross Country."

Hastings College

Head Coach: Ryan Mahoney

2022 GPAC Finish: 2^nd

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The Hastings College women return the bulk of the team that finished as GPAC runners up and qualified for nationals each of the past two years.  All-Conference runners Veronica Pinkerton, Shania Santos, and Madison Gerken look to lead this team to a third straight nationals berth.   Santos, who was the 2021 GPAC Individual Champion as a freshman battled injury almost all of 2022 has been healthy and had a good summer of training. Three-time 800m All-American Veronica Pinkerton has also put in a good summer and will look to build on her 2022 cross country season which was her best ever.  A solid group of newcomers will look to break into the top 7 and bolster depth as the season progresses. Shania Santos (Junior) was the individual GPAC XC Champion in 2021. She has been hampered by injuries since then struggling to train most of last season until coming on at the end of the year to finish All-Conference.  She has had her best summer of training this year and looks to return as one of the top runners in the conference.  "This is the most experienced group of women we have had on the cross country team in a long time.  They have competed and had success at big meets on numerous occasions. However, I think this will be one of the deepest and strongest fields of women's teams in the GPAC this year. Success at conference and a trip to nationals are not guaranteed to anyone."     

Midland University

Head Coach: Daniel Gerber

2022 GPAC Finish: 9^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch:  The Midland Women's team has a mix of strong leadership and newcomers to the program. With a returning cross country national qualifier and growth from the newcomers, the team is looking to climb up the ranks of the GPAC from their 9th place finish last season.  Myia Johnson, senior. Johnson was an individual qualifier for the NAIA Cross Country Championships in 2022. We feel that the move to a 6,000 will benefit her and look forward to how she competes this fall. 

Morningside University

Head Coach: Frank Wallace

2022 GPAC Finish: 5^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: Looking towards the 2023 Cross Country season the Mustang women will be in contention for top-5 at the conference meet again this year. With most of last year's team returning this will be familiar territory for them. The Mustangs look to come together and make a wave at the conference meet even with the change to 6,000m now. Courtney Sporrer is a runner to watch for our team this fall.

Mount Marty University

Head Coach: Dan Fitzsimmons

2022 GPAC Finish: 8^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: We look for our women's team to show improvement from last year to this year.  The talent to be better than a year ago is definitely available, we will have to carefully maximize each spot on the team without risking injury. Jordyn Fischer has decided to run full-time (she previously played VB during the fall) and after placing in the 10K at the GPAC Outdoor Championships, she looks to continue that momentum into the cross country season. 

Northwestern College

Head Coach: Scott Bahrke

2022 GPAC Finish: 4^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: The Northwestern College women's team have aspirations of reaching the NAIA National XC Championship this season. We know it will be a difficult task, but our ladies are up to the challenge. We have 8 returners from the GPAC championship last year and 2 of those qualified individually for Nationals. Emily Haverdink, now a sophomore and Caitlin Alberts, a junior will lead our women's team. They have experienced Nationals and are hungry to return with their teammates. Haverdink placed 2^nd at last year's conference championship in Jamestown, ND and Alberts placed 19^th. Other juniors coming off season bests as sophomores in 2022 are Julia Fehr, Emma Haley and Abby Ervin. Lili Nelson is an incoming freshman that looks to contribute to our Red Raiders success this fall. "Our women are hungry to get to Nationals as a team. They have put in the training this summer to make this a reality."

University of Jamestown

Head Coach: Jarvis Jelen

2022 GPAC Finish: 10^th

Outlook and Runner to Watch: Our women's team will be drastically improved from last year, as the team was utilizing other track event group athletes just to field a team last fall. We have three returners, along with seven newcomers, a few of which should have an immediate impact. We expect to be competitive in the GPAC.  Keely Arnston (SO from Maddock, ND) – Keely is our top returner & should be drastically improved from last fall. If she can maintain better consistency, she should be very competitive in the conference. "We are really young, but full of energy & buy-in. Excited to see what we can do this fall!" said Jelen.