Top-25 Coaches' Poll
 
Kansas City, MO – The Patriots women's cross country team comes into the 2022 season receiving votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top-25 Poll, NAIA officials announced Thursday afternoon. UC is coming off their second straight Mid-South Conference championship, and a 26^th place finish at the NAIA National Championships.
 
Cumberlands find themselves in the preseason poll for back-to-back seasons, as they were ranked 24^th in the 2020 preseason poll. This is just the fourth time since 2000 that they were mentioned in these rankings.
 
The Patriots return two of their top-seven finishers from the 2021 Cross Country National Championships and are bringing in a number of transfers and freshman to pick up right where they left off. Lauren Sanderson and Ashley Terry are sophomores who made the trip to Vancouver, WA a year ago, and they look to have an even stronger performance this year with the addition of transfers Ashlyn Liddle, Abriella Overholser, and Victoria Shedron.
 
Defending National Champions Milligan come in as the top team in the nation with 551 points, with St. Francis (IL) and Cornerstone rounding out the top three. Cumberlands received 63 points, placing them just three spots outside the top-25. Campbellsville was the only other MSC team mentioned, as they were receiving votes with four points respectively.  
 
UC will begin their season in one week as they travel to Berea College for the Berea/Centre Jamboree.
 
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