Courtesy of Adam Hussman/MLC Athletics

ST PAUL — The UMAC Men’s Cross-Country poll was voted on by all of the coaches in the conference on and the MLC Knights were predicted to finish second, announced by the UMAC on Friday.

The Knights earned 27 points and received the only other first-place vote, alongside UW-Superior, which garnered 36 points (6 first-place votes). MLC finished second in the 2024 UMAC Championship behind the Yellowjackets.

Head Coach Mark Weinkauf enters his sixth season in charge of the MLC men’s cross country program and brings back a couple of incoming sophomores who had impressive freshman seasons a year ago.

Eliott Heiderich returns after placing ninth overall at the UMAC Championship with a time of 27:36.6, and Daniel Ertman will join him again after taking 16th overall (28:34.4) in the event. Both runners earned Second Team All-UMAC honors.

Junior Elijah Hutchinson is the key returning upperclassman for the Knights. Hutchinson took 22nd overall with a mark of 29:06.2 in the conference championship.

The women’s cross-country preseason poll was officially released Thursday morning.

The poll is voted on by all the head coaches in the conference. Coaches cannot vote for their own team.

After coming in second at the UMAC Championship a season ago, the Knights were voted to finish in fourth (19 points) for the 2025 season. The Crown Polars were predicted to claim the top prize come the beginning of November with 34 points (4 first-place votes).

The Knights lose three key runners in Kate Mensching, Maya Habben, and Hope Sulzle, who earned All-Conference recognition in their senior seasons. However, MLC brings back sophomore Jemimah Habben, who finished eighth overall at the UMAC Championship in 2024 with a time of 24:37.6 in the 6K. Joining Habben are juniors Liberty VanDenHeuvel and Alexandra Schroeder, who each finished within the top-30 of all runners in the 6K a season ago.