Steubenville, Ohio - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) released their Preseason Coaches' Poll for Women's Cross Country today. Franciscan was tabbed to finish sixth in the conference after finishing fourth at the PAC Championship last season.
 

2025 PAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2024 Conference finishes
1. Allegheny College (4)	105	1st (of 11) at PAC Championships, 45 pts.
2. Grove City College (3)	101	2nd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 64 pts.
3. Geneva College (4)	97	6th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 129 pts.
4. Saint Vincent College (1)	96	3rd (of 11) at PAC Championships, 75 pts.
5. Washington & Jefferson College	93	5th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 124 pts.
6. Franciscan University	77	4th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 84 pts.
7. Waynesburg University	56	7th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 210 pts.
8. Hiram College	47	8th (of 8) at NCAC Championships
9. Westminster College	45	10th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 283 pts.
10. Chatham University	36	8th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 249 pts.
11. Thiel College	20	9th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 274 pts.
12. Bethany College	19	11th (of 11) at PAC Championships, 325 pts.

Runners to Watch
Three Barons were named PAC Runners to Watch for the upcoming 2025 season. 

Emily Maag (So. Cleona, Pa. / Annville Cleona Secondary) looks to pickup where she left off with a successful freshman campaign in 2024. She just missed out on All-PAC honors, as she placed 22nd at the PAC Championship. She set a best mark of 19:38.3 in a 5K and 23:59.2 at the 6K distance. Maag followed up last cross country season with a strong Track & Field debut season. She will be one of eight sophomores on the roster this season, and all could be major contributors.

One of those fellow sophomores is Francesca Rivers (Sauk Centre, Minn. / Sauk Centre) looks to show continued improvement in year two. She ran a best 5K time of 20:03.1 at the JennaStrong Fall Classic last cross country season. She also had several strong showing in track & field in the spring for the Barons.

Mary Worden (Fort Atkinson, Wis. / Fort Atkinson) is one of the new faces that looks poised to make an immediate impact. She brings a strong resume in from a great high school career in Wisconsin.

New Faces
Hope Danis, Gianna Earl, Gwynie Falcone, Faith Foppe, Ava Huck, Mary Kennedy, Bernadette Kerner, Madeline Kramer, Jazlyn Ortiz, Katherine Ptak, Anna Steimle, Meredith Tentor, Margaret Delaney, Rachel Descamps, and Veronica Much are all new additions in 2025. Coach Dr. Daniel Kuebler has assembled another large roster that could be one of the deepest from top to bottom in his 20+ years at the helm.

The Favorites
The Allegheny Gators earned four first-place votes to sit atop the poll and defend their championship from a season ago. They will have the opportunity to defend on their home course, as the PAC Championship comes to Meadville this season. Grove City earned three first-place votes to earn second in the poll, and Geneva had four first-place votes but was seeded third. Saint Vincent earned the final first-place vote to sit in fourth. 

Up Next
Franciscan will begin the 2025 at the same event that they started the 2024 season, as they travel to Westminster for the Fisher Invite 5K. Last season, the Barons won this event with a perfect score of 15, as they had runners place one through five. Claire Walters just edged out Lauren Dosch with a time just under 20 minutes to win the opening event last season. Seven PAC schools will be competing this season, as it will be a great early look at where we stack up against most of the conference. 

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