The Kansas Wesleyan women's cross country team checks the boxes that are needed for a successful season - talent, experience, depth.
The challenge for fourth-year coach Garrett Young and his staff is building off previous successes that include a second-place finish in the Kansas Conference meet and berth in the NAIA National Championship in 2024.
Young is confident the process will continue this fall.
"We've been here, and we've done this but we're going back and we're doing this at a higher level now," he said. "They know the training is going to be a little bit faster, they know the miles are going to be a little bit longer, they know we're going to continue to push them to that next level."
Young is impressed with what he has seen during summer and preseason workouts. The Coyotes are ranked 13th in the NAIA's preseason poll after placing 14th in the field of 35 teams in 2024.
"I think the whole group took some really big steps in the track season," he said. "The women that have been at the national level before or earned an All-American took some steps. We had a lot of the younger women that maybe got under 19 minutes for 5 (kilometers) for the first time on the track and I think we had eight or nine women last year break 19 (minutes) on the track for 5K."
Three Coyotes are grizzled veterans of NAIA competition. Senior Madisyn Ehrlich is seeking her fourth trip to nationals while classmates Josie Koppes and Charlee Lind are chasing their third. Senior Kirstin Hackney and sophomore Hailey Nordhus ran in the NAIA meet last year and are back as well. Sophomore Micah Dickens as an alternate at nationals a year ago and returns.
"I don't know what our top seven is going to be, but we're excited to see who shakes out," Young said.
It took a while for last year's squad to realize its potential.
"The whole year we were telling them 'you guys are good,'" Young said. "It wasn't until the first national ranking came in and that was the first time that they're like 'oh, people are noticing.' And then we jumped in the national rankings and at that point I distinctly remember one of the runners being like 'we're like, good.' It was not a surprise to any of the coaching staff."
Six Coyotes were among the top 20 finishers in the conference meet led by Koppes' ninth-place finish. Saint Mary was the champion, and Young expects another battle between his team and the Spires this fall. The KCAC meet is in Leavenworth.
"Saint Mary loses a lot from their top seven," he said. "The thing about Saint Mary is it doesn't matter what they lose a lot of times because they bring a lot back as well. It's just about being out there and competing on that day. I'm sure other teams in the conference are going to try and have their say in it but I could see the top 20 being a whole lot of Coyotes and a whole lot of Spires so it might literally just be who finishes in front of who at that given point."