LATHAM, N.Y. – Five-time defending champion St. Mary’s College of Maryland has been selected atop the 2026 United East Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll following a vote of the conference’s 12 head coaches.

The Seahawks received five first-place votes and 114 total points to narrowly edge Lancaster Bible College for the top position. The Chargers collected a poll-high six first-place votes and 111 points after finishing just five points behind St. Mary’s at the 2025 United East Championship.

Cairn University was selected third with 92 points, while Penn State Harrisburg received the remaining first-place vote and 86 points to rank fourth. Cedar Crest College and Penn College tied for fifth with 75 points apiece.

St. Mary’s captured its fifth consecutive United East championship last fall, finishing with 53 points. The Seahawks placed three runners among the top nine and return four of their five scoring runners from the championship meet.

First Team All-United East performer Ella Mitchell leads the returning group after placing second overall at the 2025 championship. Mitchell completed the six-kilometer course in 24:25.10.

“I’m excited for the team to continue building on what they’ve done in the past with the addition of the new faces we have on the team,” St. Mary’s Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Reava Potter said. “Seeing how well they mesh together is exciting.”

Potter joined St. Mary’s in November 2020 as the institution’s first director of cross country and track and field. Since then, the Seahawks have won each contested United East Women’s Cross Country Championship.

“The key components to doing well are being a family, pushing each other to be the best and stepping up when needed,” Potter said. “The culture of the program has been amazing, and I know it will continue to grow and raise the bar.”

Lancaster Bible enters the season ranked second after placing three consecutive runners among the top five and scoring 58 points at last year’s championship. The Chargers return two members of that trio in Seana Dougherty and Cadee Cameron. Dougherty earned First Team All-United East honors after finishing third in 24:32.47, while Cameron secured the same recognition by placing fifth in 24:59.85. Lancaster Bible head coach Silas Eckenroad was named the 2025 United East Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year after guiding four Chargers to All-Conference honors.

Cairn will be led by two-time defending United East individual champion Clarisse Hayden. The reigning Runner of the Year won the 2025 conference championship in 23:58.48, finishing more than 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Hayden has earned seven United East Runner of the Week awards over the past two seasons.

Penn State Harrisburg placed third at last year’s championship with 84 points and enters the new season ranked fourth. Reigning United East Rookie of the Year MaKayla Reichel returns to pace the Lions after placing sixth in 25:11.28. Reichel became the first Penn State Harrisburg women’s cross country runner to earn the conference’s Rookie of the Year award and secured First Team All-United East recognition.

Cedar Crest and Penn College share the fifth position in the poll after finishing sixth and fifth, respectively, at last year’s championship. The Falcons scored 119 points, just two behind the Wildcats’ total of 117.

Penn State Berks was selected seventh, followed by Penn State Abington in eighth and Notre Dame of Maryland University in ninth. Penn State Brandywine ranks 10th, while Gallaudet University and Keystone College tied for 11th to complete the poll.
 

	Teams	Points	First-Place Votes
1	St. Mary's College of Maryland	114	5
2	Lancaster Bible College	111	6
3	Cairn University	92
4	Penn State Harrisburg	86	1
T5	Cedar Crest College	75
T5	Penn College	75
7	Penn State Berks	54
8	Penn State Abington	50
9	Notre Dame of Maryland University	37
10	Penn State Brandywine	34
T11	Gallaudet University	32
T11	Keystone College	32