The University of Minnesota Duluth men's and women's cross country teams are both set to compete in the NCAA II Cross Country Central Region Championships this Saturday in Joplin, Mo., hosted by Missouri Southern University (women's 6k will begin at 10:00 am and the men's 10k will begin at 11:15am).

The race will be the official qualifying meet for the 2025 NCAA II Cross Country National Championships, held this year in Kenosha, Wis. on November 22nd. 

The Central Region qualifier will consist of athletes from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), and the Great American Conference (GAC). The racing distance for the men will be 10k, and 6k for the women. All the action will take place on the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. 

WHO TO WATCH:  The UMD women are coming off a third place in the NSIC Cross Country Championships where graduate Shaelyn Hostager led the way with a third place finish. Hostager didn't compete for the Bulldog cross country team last season, but the UMD team is currently ranked ninth in the latest central region ranking and receiving votes in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national poll. 

Another runner to watch is junior Ellie Hanowski, who finished third for UMD in scoring at regionals one season ago in 90th with a time of 22:59.58).

On the men's side, Isaac Dickenson, who has paced the Bulldogs as its top finisher all season, will make his regional debut. Both Alex Heidorn  (68th, 32:14.15), and Noah Foster (118th, 33:19.67) both finished as Bulldog scorers last season 

LAST TIME OUT: Both teams laced up for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Cross Country Championships in Wayne, Neb. 13 days ago on the Wayne Country Club. The Bulldogs women ran to their second-straight third place finish, while the UMD men finished in ninth.

Graduate runner Shaelyn Hostager was named NSIC Newcomer of the Year, the top finisher competing in their first year of NSIC competition. She was third overall – making her an NSIC First Team All-Conference runner as well – with a time of 21:57.10, a season best, and the first finisher for UMD. Junior Ellie Hanowski finished 12th overall en route to a NSIC Second Team All-Conference finisher with a season best time of 22:27.3, while senior Kira Almsberger earned 18th place for a NSIC Second Team All-Conference spot with her season best time of 22:50.10. Sophomore Claire Becker (23:13.4, 23rd overall) and junior Rachel Ulrich (32nd, 23:34.2) were the fourth and fifth scoring runners for the Bulldogs, respectively. 

Senior Elizabeth VanLoon repeated as the NSIC Elite 18 Award winner for women's cross country after she held the highest grade point average with the most credits earned among the 16 women's cross country schools competing at the NSIC Cross Country Championships. The native of New Brighton, Minn. was also voted by the league coaches as the winner of the NSIC Women's Cross Country Outstanding Senior of the Year Award at the ceremony, the first Bulldog woman to land the award after Jack Van Kempen earned it last year.

On the men's side, freshman Isaac Dickenson led the way with a 24th overall finish on a personal record time of 26:20.49. Junior Noah Foster placed 60th with a season best effort of 27:20.95, while sophomore Connor Bialka finished right beside him in 61st with a time of 27:20.96 – a season best for Bialka. Junior Nolan Bakken (27:34.9, 68th and senior Isaac Martel (27:54.4) rounded out the top-five finishers for UMD.