DETROIT -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its yearly Cross Country Coaches Preseason Poll on Thursday, with the Wayne State University men's squad picked to finish fourth in 2025.

The top five teams on this year's preseason poll included Grand Valley State (81 points / nine first-place votes), Saginaw Valley State (71 points / one first-place vote), Michigan Tech (67 points), WSU (53 points), and Parkside (46 points).  This marks the fourth time in the last six years that the Green and Gold have been slotted fourth (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025).  GVSU takes the top spot for the seventh time in as many polls (2018-2025 excluding 2020 due to COVID-19).

Anthony Vinson (Macomb, Mich. Utica Eisenhower) enters the 2025 season as the squad's only three-time letterwinner while Sean Pettis (Fremont, Mich. ) is back for his sophomore season as the team's top-returnee after a 67th-place finish at last seasons's NCAA Midwest Regional.  Three more student-athletes that saw action in the regional race a season ago will compete this fall in Brady Heron (Northville, Mich.), Ty Nagy (Commerce Township, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland), and Jared Platt (White Lake, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland).

Grant Lofdahl is entering his ninth season with the Green and Gold and looks to lead the men's squad to its first team appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2021.

BELOW IS THE ENTIRE POLL:
1. Grand Valley State - 81 (9)
2. Saginaw Valley State - 71 (1)
3. Michigan Tech - 67
4. Wayne State - 53
5. Parkside - 46
6. Ferris State - 42
7. Davenport - 37
8. Lake Superior State - 23
9. Purdue Northwest - 21
10. Roosevelt - 9

Both the men's and women's squads will begin the 2025 season on Friday, September 9, at the Hillsdale Invitational.  The women's race will start at 6:00 PM followed by the men's at 6:30 PM.