ST. PAUL, Minn. — After a fall of strong performances, the College of Saint Benedict cross country team is ready to take on one of the biggest meets of the year — the 2025 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships. The conference race will be held Saturday afternoon at the Highland 9 Cross Country Trailhead in St. Paul, with the women's 6K slated for a noon start.

This year marks just the second time the MIAC Championships have been hosted at Highland 9 — the first coming in 2022 — and only the second off-campus site for the meet since the conference's nearly two-decade run at Como Park from 1998 through 2016. Augsburg, Hamline, and St. Catherine will serve as hosts for this year's meet.

Since 1981, five different schools have claimed MIAC women's cross country titles. St. Olaf enters as the defending champion, having earned its 11th program title last fall. St. Thomas remains the all-time leader with 17 championships — including the first nine in league history from 1981–89 — followed by Carleton (13) and St. Olaf (11). The Oles swept both the men's and women's titles in 2024, a feat last accomplished by Carleton from 2017–19. Individually, St. Thomas runners have claimed 10 MIAC crowns, while Carleton has seven, St. Olaf six, and Bethel, Macalester, and Saint Benedict five each.

Last fall, Saint Ben's finished seventh at the MIAC Championships with 166 points, later placing 18th of 31 teams at the NCAA North Region meet. Then-senior and now assistant coach Lucy Lyngen led the way, finishing 24th and earning All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors. Under head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue, the Bennies have tallied 17 top five finishes (25 overall) at the MIAC Championships — and they're looking to climb even higher this year.

Following the MIAC Championships, CSB cross country will host the CSB Fall Finale at 4:30 p.m., on Nov. 7 before heading to the NCAA DIII North Region Championship on Saturday, Nov. 15 in Colfax, Wis.

Fall Review -
Six record top 50 program marks at George Oja Invitational
Momentum has been building since early October, when Saint Ben's turned heads at the Linfield/George Oja Invitational in Oregon. Facing a field stacked with NCAA Division I and II programs, the Bennies placed 12th of 31 teams with 369 points — a performance highlighted by six runners breaking into the program's all-time top 50.
Senior Mary Kenney led the charge with a career-best 22:27.8 in the 6K, finishing 58th overall and vaulting to No. 6 on CSB's all-time list. First-year Daphne Grobstein continued her sensational debut season with a 23:04.1 finish — the 19th-fastest time in school history — while junior Anabella Witschen (23:19.6, 29th all-time) and senior Rachel Olinger (23:20.2, 31st) each set personal bests. Sophomore Mollie Ping (23:24.6, 32nd all-time) and junior Abby Bufkin (23:41.9, 46th all-time) rounded out a historic day that saw 22 of 24 Bennies runners notch lifetime bests.

Bennies win Toni St. Pierre Invitational
The Bennies' season opened in winning fashion at the Toni St. Pierre Invitational on September 5. Behind a tightly packed top seven finish, Saint Ben's captured the team title with 41 points, edging out UW-Stout (53) and Northwestern-St. Paul (62). Kenney's second-place run of 19:06.9 marked a new personal best and tied her for 17th on CSB's all-time 5K list, earning her The House/St. Cloud Orthopedics CSB Athlete of the Week honors. Grobstein impressed in her collegiate debut, finishing fifth in 19:22.2 — already tied for 32nd in program history — while sophomore Julia Babineau placed 10th in 20:04.6 to complete the Bennies' top trio.

Holding their own against the region's best
Saint Ben's carried that momentum into a strong showing at the St. Olaf Invitational, their first 6K of the year. Facing nationally ranked teams, the Bennies finished fifth of 17 squads with 163 points. Kenney again led the way, running 23:31.6 for 17th place, while Grobstein followed in 33rd (23:47.2) the 47th-fastest time in CSB history. Bufkin and Babineau came through in 61st and 70th, and Ping closed the scoring in 24:44.6, another personal best.

Building momentum at the Blugold Invitational
The Bennies' steady progress continued at the Blugold Invitational in Colfax, Wisconsin, where they placed 22nd of 36 teams in a 337-runner field. Kenney once again paced the team, clocking 23:34.9 for 41st place. Babineau followed in 24:27.7, good for 112th, while Olinger ran a lifetime-best 24:46.6 to finish 144th.