INDIANAPOLIS – For the third time this fall, Walsh was voted first, this time in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour announced Thursday.
 
The Cavaliers previously headlined the women’s soccer and men’s cross country preseason coaches polls as expectations are high in North Canton to begin the new academic year.
 
Walsh was a unanimous choice, receiving all possible first-place votes by the coaches (since teams cannot vote for themselves), in the balloting process
 
The Cavaliers of Walsh, led by head coach Rob Mizicko, tallied 144 points. Hillsdale received the other first-place vote and finished second with 130 points.
 
Both Hillsdale and Walsh traveled to Pittsburgh last year for the Division II Festival to compete as national qualifiers at Schenley Park.
 
For two straight seasons, a pair of teams from the Great Midwest have made trips to the NCAA Championships, a forecasted trend that could easily hold true for the third year in a row. The depth of the league is noticeable and multiple teams are consistently in the USTFCCCA national and regional rankings.
 
All 13 programs from the league were ranked in this year’s preseason coaches poll as the road to nationals starts through Ursuline as host of this year conference championship.
 
The postseason continues with the NCAA Midwest Regional returning back to Evansville, Ind. Teams and/or individuals will then hope to qualify for the NCAA Championships held on Nov. 23 in Sacramento, Calif.
 
Ursuline will be hosting this year’s conference meet at the Laurel School-Butler campus on Saturday, Oct. 26.
 
Coming in third was Cedarville with 123 points followed by Malone in fourth with 113 points. Just like the men’s poll, Findlay was in the top five at fifth with 97 points.
 
Ursuline and Alderson Broaddus followed next while Ohio Valley, Ohio Dominican and Trevecca Nazarene each had top-10 predictions. Tiffin, Kentucky Wesleyan and Lake Erie, rounded out this year’s preseason coaches poll in order, respectively.
 
Great Midwest Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
 

School	Points
1. Walsh (12 first-place votes)	144
2. Hillsdale (1 first-place vote)	130
3. Cedarville	123
4. Malone	113
5. Findlay	97
6. Ursuline	79
7. Alderson Broaddus	62
8. Ohio Valley	60
9. Ohio Dominican	57
10. Trevecca Nazarene	48
11. Tiffin	39
12. Kentucky Wesleyan	36
13. Lake Erie	26