UMD Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Set Sights High Ahead of New Year

UMD's first invitational is September 12th in River Falls.

DULUTH, Minn.- The UMD men’s and women’s cross country teams officially began their seasons on Monday.

Both squads are coming off respectful finishes in 2024 as each team had a top 4 finish in the NSIC and a top 14 finish in the central region.

Head Coach Brette Jensen detailed what the team’s goals are for this year plus what they’re trying to accomplish in the first sessions.

“The goal is that we’re running really fast when it matters, which is late October, early November. Getting to that national meet and making some noise at the conference level in late October as well. So, early on we’re focusing on fine tuning our race tactics and just increasing our fitness base in that sense so it all pays off in the postseason,” said Jensen.

“Each race is a learning opportunity. It doesn’t always have to be your best and even if it wasn’t your best, you can learn something from it, take something away and make that next race better,” added graduate student Shaelyn Hostager.

“We’re all very talented and we can all trust each other to show up on the right days. Only five of us score so as long as five of us are there, that’s all that really matters,” said junior Noah Foster.

UMD’s first invitational is September 12th in River Falls.