Contact: Greta Norville, Assistant Director of Sport Communications and Marketing, norvilleg@midwestconference.org
Neenah, Wisconsin – Five Midwest Conference men’s and women’s cross country programs continue to earn regional recognition as the USTFCCCA Week Seven polls came out on Tuesday afternoon.
Three teams remained ranked on the women’s side, while two continue to hold spots on the men’s side. Cornell and Grinnell maintained their positions in the women’s Midwest Region at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively, Ripon College stayed at No. 6 in the women’s North Region. On the men’s side Grinnell remains No.8 in the Midwest Region, while Luther College moved down one spot to No. 10.
All five teams competed at the MWC Championships this past weekend. Ripon continued its strong season by capturing the 2026 MWC Women’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday at Beloit Country Club. The Red Hawks finished with 48 points, edging Cornell College by two points. Ripon was led by individual champion Joley Berger, followed by Gabby Allard, and Ximena Juarez.
The Rams finished runner-up at the conference championship with 50 points. Lidia Dahlman led the team with a second-place finish. Cornell also had four other runners finish in the top 20, with Milar Little in eighth, Gretchyn Fairlie (ninth), and Zoe Peesel (16th).
Grinnell placed third at the MWC Championship with 66 points. Hannah Roth led the Pioneers with a sixth-place finish, followed by Arushi Kharbanda in seventh, Lizzie Drew in 13th and Ella McEntee in 19th.
Grinnell captured the 2026 MWC Men’s Cross Country Championship finishing with 48 team points. Jack Lakin led Grinnell with a fifth-place finish, followed by Ben Abelow (seventh), Leif Dahl (10th), Greyson Imm (11th), and Milo Flores (15th).
Luther finished strong at third overall with 64 points and was led by individual champion Michel Heinrich. Adam Gray followed closely in second place and Jacob Bruns finished in eighth place.
All five teams will be competing this week and look to continue their dominant seasons.