AAC Places Three Team in the NAIA Top 20
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Three Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) teams landed in the top 20 of the 2025 NAIA Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Top 25 announced on Thursday.
Milligan checks in at No. 2 with 488 voting points, while Montreat is ranked 10th with 359 voting points. SCAD Atlanta rounds out the field as it sits at No. 18 with 212 voting points.
The preseason Top 25 is the first step in a march toward Tallahassee, Fla., where the season culminates with the 70th-Annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship at Apalachee Regional Park on Nov. 21.
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1. Taylor (Ind.), 507 points Led by the NAIA's 2024 individual national champion and USTFCCCA Women's Athlete of the Year Jaynie Halterman, the Trojans finished second at the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship - by a point - and are the top-rated team in the Crossroads League in 2025. Three-time NAIA All-American Noel VanderWall also returns, edging Taylor into the top spot. |
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2. Milligan (Tenn.), 488 points Ellen-Mary Kaerney returns to lead the top-rated team in a tough Appalachian Athletic Conference, joined by returning All-Americans Alyssa Bearzi and Kirsten Geary. The Buffs finished fourth at the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship, in Columbia, Mo. |
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3. The Master's (Calif.), 475 points Looking to defend first place at last season's championship, the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Champion Mustangs are the top-rated team in the Great Southwest Athletic Conference. |
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4. Cumberlands (Ky.), 436 points A year after recording their best performance at the national championship in program history, the Patriots bring back a solid core of returners and a load of new talent, vaulting UC atop the Mid-South Conference preseason rating for the 2025 season. |
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5. Saint Mary (Kan.), 434 points The Spires were third at last season's national championship in Columbia, brining back Josie Tyrell, who finished 31st at last year's championship. USM has won eight of the last 11 KCAC women's cross country titles, including five consecutive crowns. |
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6. Marian (Ind.), 407 points The second-ranked team in a loaded Crossroads League, the Knights are led by returning All-American Katie Woods, who finished third individually at last year's championship. Marian lost just one runner off of last season's team that finished 12th at the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship. |
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7. Grace (Ind.), 382 points The Lancers are the third-ranked team in the Crossroads League preseason, bringing a veteran team into the 2025 season after an eighth-place finish at last year's 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship. |
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8. SCAD Savannah (Ga.), 380 points Led by returning All-American Talia Sullivan, the Bees look to take a step forward in 2025 after finishing fourth at the 2024 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship in Columbia. SCAD Savannah enters 2025 as the top-ranked team in The Sun Conference preseason. |
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9. Dordt (Iowa), 364 points The top-rated team from the Great Plains Athletic Conference, the Defenders have the GPAC champion and runner-up in Corinne Braun and Isabella Webb, who both competed at the 2024 national championship, where Dordt finished eighth. |
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10. Montreat (N.C.), 359 points Last season's fifth-place team at the national championship, Montreat brings back three NAIA All-Americans for the 2025 campaign, including Appalachian Athletic Conference Runner of the Year Heather Murphy, alongside Macy Parks and Carlyn Bobo. The Cavaliers are rated second in the AAC preseason. |
| RANK | INSTITUTION | POINTS |
| 11 | Indiana Wesleyan | 342 |
| 12 | College of Idaho | 329 |
| 13 | Kansas Wesleyan | 307 |
| 14 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 305 |
| 15 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 271 |
| 16 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 252 |
| 17 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 216 |
| 18 | SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 212 |
| 19 | Southern Oregon | 201 |
| 20 | Eastern Oregon | 170 |
| 21 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 132 |
| 22 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 123 |
| 23 | Montana Tech | 121 |
| 24 | Carroll (Mont.) | 87 |
| 25 | Oklahoma City | 86 |
Receiving Votes: Benedictine (Kan.) 79, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 77, Saint Francis (Ind.) 65, Rio Grande (Ohio) 46, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 15, Huntington (Ind.) 11, Saint Mary (Neb.) 11, Indiana Tech 8, Dakota State (S.D.) 7, Doane (Neb.) 6, Shawnee State (Ohio) 5, William Carey (Miss.) 5, John Brown (Ark.) 3, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 3.
Ratings Methodology
- The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team's rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".