2023 WIAC Women's Cross Country Championship Preview

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will seek a third consecutive title at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Cross Country Championship (presented by Culver’s). The 45th gathering of league teams will be hosted by UW-River Falls at Prescott High School in Prescott, Wis., on Oct. 28. The women’s race will start at 1:00 p.m. and be preceded by the men’s competition at noon.
 
UW-La Crosse secured the 11th conference championship in program history a season ago with 26 points. UW-Eau Claire placed second with 50 points, UW-Oshkosh third with 99, UW-Stout fourth with 108, UW-Whitewater fifth with 120, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 131, UW-Platteville seventh with 208, and UW-River Falls eighth with 249.
 
UW-Oshkosh leads WIAC schools with 16 titles, while UW-Eau Claire has 11 and UW-Stevens Point two. Former members Marquette University and UW-Madison collected three and one, respectively.
 
Three teams are ranked among the best in NCAA Division III based on Oct. 18 rankings distributed by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. UW-La Crosse is 12th, while UW-Eau Claire is 21st and UW-Stout 35th.
 
UW-La Crosse’s Maddie Hannan is the reigning individual champion after posting a time of 21:45.5 on last year’s 6,000-meter course. She finished seventh at the 2021 championship after a third-place performance in 2019.
 
Returning runners that secured All-WIAC recognition from 2022 include: UW-Eau Claire’s Carolyn Shult (second) and Keeley Behr (20th); UW-La Crosse’s Katelyn Chadwick (fourth) and Maddy Vantassel (sixth); UW-Oshkosh’s Amelia Lehman (third) and Libby Geisness (18th); UW-Stevens Point’s Rachel Krouse (seventh); UW-Stout’s Arely Jaime Luevano (13th); and UW-Whitewater’s Ari De La Cerda (11th), Paige Fassbender (14th); and Payton Scoggin (19th).
 
Shult (second), Krouse (fourth), Vantassel (13th), and Chadwick (20th) also collected all-conference accolades in 2021. They were joined by UW-Eau Claire’s Morgan Dahl (19th), UW-La Crosse’s Madelynn McIntyre (12th) and Katelyn Chadwick (20th), and UW-Oshkosh’s Cyna Madigan (ninth).
 
Vantassel added an 11th-place finish at the 2019 championship.
 
Additional runners leading their teams this fall include: UW-Platteville’s Hannah Fliss and UW-River Falls’ Laina Viere.
 
The top seven runners in the 6,000-meter race will receive All-WIAC first team recognition, while runners placing eighth through 14th earn All-WIAC second team accolades. Individuals finishing 15th through 20th claim honorable mention status.
 
All eight WIAC teams will return to action on Nov. 11, and participate in the NCAA Division III North Regional, which will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire at Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, Wis. Dickinson College (Pa.) will host the NCAA Division III Championship at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa., on Nov. 18.
 

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