歪歪漫画

BEMIDJI 鈥� Bemidji State women鈥檚 cross country junior Maggie McCarthy was named the Beavers鈥� Preseason Women鈥檚 Cross Country Athlete to Watch as the 2024 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Women鈥檚 Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll was announced Thursday morning.

The Beavers were picked to finish 10th in the poll, which is voted upon by league head coaches. Bemidji State garnered 80 points in the poll, while Augustana was voted to finish first with 196 points and 14 first-place votes.

鈥淭his is a new chapter for us,鈥� said head coach Mike Lynch. 鈥淚 am very excited to see what this team can do this season. We are a very young team with lots of great energy. The returners are a group that never back down from a workout and they bring awesome energy to practice each day. This team has no limits to what they can achieve.鈥�

McCarthy is coming off a sophomore season where she placed 65th at the 2023 NSIC Cross Country Championship with a personal-best time of 23:19.3 and finished 127th at the NCAA Regionals. She also set a personal-best in the 5,000-meters with a time of 19:13.5 at the Charles Bowles Invite during the season.

鈥淢aggie has made big improvement throughout her college career,鈥� continued Lynch. 鈥淪he is trusting herself more and more as a college runner! Maggie is that teammate that they younger athletes can look up to and is fantastic teammate all around. With Maggie's work ethic she is poised for another break though season.鈥�

2024 NSIC Women鈥檚 Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Augustana (14) 196

2. Mary (1) 179

3. Winona State 157

4. Minnesota State 155

5. Sioux Falls 151

6. Minnesota Duluth 140

7. Minot State 106

8. Northern State 106

9. Wayne State 89

10. Bemidji State 80

11. MSU Moorhead 75

12. Southwest Minn. State 43

13. Minnesota Crookston 39

14. St. Cloud State 32

15. Concordia-St. Paul 27

The 2024 Bemidji State cross country season kicks-off Sept. 13 with a 5,000-meter race at the Dragon Twilight hosted by Minnesota State Moorhead, Sept. 13.