Men's Cross Country NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll
Kansas City, Missouri - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2025 Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Saints, who finished 18th at the 2024 NAIA Men's National Championships, find themselves slotted at No.16 to start the season.
Head coach
Mike Wojciakowski, who begins his 28th season leading the Saints, will look to some seasoned veterans along with a talented group of newcomers in 2025. Pacing the Saints up front will be returning All-WHAC cross country performers
Brian Langlois,
Carson Lafferty and
Juan David Hernandez. The trio will provide a strong presence for Aquinas at the front of their competitions.
Lafferty stated, "We've got a really good squad this year, and I am super excited to see what we are going to accomplish. The new guys are really fitting into the team quite well, and a lot of the older guys are all stepping up to do some big things this year. It's going to be a fun season!"
In addition, the Saints will rely on upperclassman
Noah Momber,
Jaben Bakker,
Shema Reponse,
Andrew Stern and
Austin Williford to support the Saints' attack this fall. This group will be needed to step it up after the graduation of the Saints top four from last fall. Aquinas also will sport an additional seven team members that will be donning the AQ colors for the first time this fall.
The Saints, who are looking for back-to-back-to-back WHAC titles, find themselves leading a contingent of three WHAC schools in the preseason rankings. Both Cornerstone and Indiana Tech are Receiving Votes in the early season poll.
Aquinas' assistant coach
Nick Thelen commented, "The Saints' varsity will feature some new faces up front after our graduation losses, but we'll continue to build around athletes with a team-first mentality who are ready to compete hard every time they line up. These guys have been waiting for their moment to step into bigger roles at Aquinas, and I'm excited to see how far they're willing to take it."
Aquinas will open their season on September 13th at the Calvin University Diemer Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
