NAIA Announces 2025 Women’s Cross Country Championship Qualifiers
(Story provided by NAIA Sports Communications)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The field is set for the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship in Tallahassee, Fla., as 36 teams converge on Apalachee Regional Park in search of the 2025 Red Banner.
The championship will air on NAIA Network and Urban Edge Network, with links, including URLs, mobile apps, and smart TV information, at NAIA.org/watch. The women's race is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET. Awards will air at approximately 11 a.m. ET.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) is represented by two teams - Milligan and Montreat, and six individuals. The individuals are Avery Raymond, Ashlyn Vanlandingham, and Meredith Larkworthy of SCAD Atlanta; Carissa Wilson of Bryan; Rylee Fisher of Reinhardt; and Averie Akin of Brenau.
Milligan won the 2025 AAC Women's Cross Country championship, while Montreat finished as the runner-up.
Last year's national champion, The Master's (Calif.), is in the field as an automatic qualifier from the Great Southwest Conference, along with last season's individual champion, Jaynie Halterman, running for top-ranked Taylor (Ind.), as the Trojans earned the automatic bid from the Crossroads League.
Among the qualifying teams, 24 collected automatic bids through conference qualification, and 12 at-large selections were determined by the final edition of the 2025 NAIA Women's Cross Country Top 25 Coaches' Rating, reviewed by the rating's Oversight Committee.
84 Individual Qualifiers also made the field, based on scoring finishes in conference meets. Later this week, check NAIA.org for a full preview of the 46th-Annual NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship.
Watch the Field Reveal on YouTube
| INSTITUTION | CONFERENCE | HOW THEY QUALIFIED: | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Columbia (Mo.) | American Midwest Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Milligan (Tenn.) | Appalachian Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Montreat (N.C.) | Appalachian Athletic Conference | Conference Runner Up |
|
Simpson (Calif.) | California Pacific Conference | Conference Champion |
|
College of Idaho | Cascade Collegiate Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Haskell (Kan.) | Continental Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Taylor (Ind.) | Crossroads League | Conference Champion |
|
Carroll (Mont.) | Frontier Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Dordt (Iowa) | Great Plains Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Morningside (Iowa) | Great Plains Athletic Conference | Conference Runner Up |
|
The Master's (Calif.) | Great Southwest Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Talladega (Ala.) | HBCU Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Benedictine (Kan.) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Mount Mercy (Iowa) | Heart of America Athletic Conference | Conference Runner Up |
|
Kansas Wesleyan | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Saint Mary (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Conference Runner Up |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) | Mid-South Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | Red River Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Rio Grande (Ohio) | River States Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Oklahoma City | Sooner Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
William Carey (Miss.) | Southern States Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | The Sun Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Cornerstone (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference | Conference Champion |
|
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | Great Southwest Athletic Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Grace (Ind.) | Crossroads League | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Marian (Ind.) | Crossroads League | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Indiana Wesleyan | Crossroads League | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Southern Oregon | Cascade Collegiate Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Eastern Oregon | Cascade Collegiate Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Aquinas (Mich.) | Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Montana Tech | Frontier Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | Cascade Collegiate Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Shawnee State (Ohio) | River States Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Governors State (Ill.) | Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference | At-Large Qualifier |
|
Missouri Baptist | Heart of America Athletic Conference | At-Large Qualifier |