INDIANAPOLIS – Lewis University was voted in the preseason coaches’ poll as the unanimous choice to win the 2023 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) women’s cross country title, the league office announced on Thursday.
The preseason poll is selected by the league’s head coaches, who, per GLVC Bylaws, are not permitted to vote for their own team.
No. 1 Lewis
- Received all possible 13 first-place votes and 169 total points.
- Won program’s fourth GLVC Championship and placed seventh at NCAA Division II Midwest Regional last season.
- Coached by James Kearney, who enters his 14th season and is the reigning GLVC Coach of the Year.
- Top-two returners include All-GLVC honorees Anna Kozak and Caroline Pacer-Ryan.
- Kozak placed third at the GLVC Championship and 25th at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
- Pacer-Ryan placed fifth at the GLVC Championship and 32nd at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
No. 2 Southwest Baptist
- Received 151 total points.
- Finished runner-up at GLVC Championship and fifth at NCAA Division II Midwest Regional last season.
- Coached by Corey McElhaney, who enters his 17th season and was voted as the 2020 GLVC Coach of the Year.
- Top-two returners include All-GLVC honorees Tessa Valdivia and Alexis Barber.
- Valdivia placed fourth at the GLVC Championship and 22nd at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
- Barber placed sixth at the GLVC Championship and 24th at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
No. 3 Drury
- Received one first-place vote and 141 total points.
- Finished fourth at GLVC Championship and 11th at NCAA Division II Midwest Regional last season.
- Coached by Lee Wood, who enters his third season.
- Top-two returners include All-GLVC honorees Bradley Weimer and Zoe Van Dijk.
- Weimer won the GLVC Championship and earned GLVC Runner of the Year honors, placing eighth at the NCAA Regional and 63rd at the NCAA Championship in 2022.
- Van Dijk placed eighth at the GLVC Championship and 40th at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
No. 4 Indianapolis
- Received 138 total points.
- Finished third at GLVC Championship and 14th at NCAA Division II Midwest Regional last season.
- Coached by Brad Robinson, who enters his eighth season and was the GLVC Coach of the Year in 2018.
- Top-two returners include Mariah Judy and All-GLVC honoree Brianna Lawson.
- Lawson placed 18th at the GLVC Championship and 47th at the NCAA Regional in 2022.
- Judy placed 26th at the GLVC Championship in 2022.
Rounding out the poll respectively in fifth through 14th was Truman State University (120 points), University of Illinois Springfield (108), Missouri S&T (99), Rockhurst University (82), Maryville University (75), University of Missouri-St. Louis (57), McKendree University (40), William Jewell College (37), Upper Iowa University (34), and Quincy University (23).
The complete poll and voting results can be found below.
| Rank |
School |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1. |
Lewis |
169 (13) |
| 2. |
Southwest Baptist |
151 |
| 3. |
Drury |
141 (1) |
| 4. |
Indianapolis |
138 |
| 5. |
Truman State |
120 |
| 6. |
Illinois Springfield |
108 |
| 7. |
Missouri S&T |
99 |
| 8. |
Rockhurst |
82 |
| 9. |
Maryville |
75 |
| 10. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
57 |
| 11. |
McKendree |
40 |
| 12. |
William Jewell |
37 |
| 13. |
Upper Iowa |
34 |
| 14. |
Quincy |
23 |