DETROIT -- Just like in 2025, the Wayne State University women's cross country team was picked to finish third in this year's GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released on Wednesday afternoon, sharing the spot with Saginaw Valley State.
The top five spots in the poll were occupied by Grand Valley State (100 points, 10 first-place votes), Northern Michigan (85 points), Wayne State (79 points), Saginaw Valley State (79 points) and Michigan Tech (65 points, one first-place vote). The entire poll is listed below:
1. Grand Valley State 100 (10)
2. Northern Michigan (85)
T3. Wayne State (79)
T3. Saginaw Valley State (79)
5. Michigan Tech 65 (1)
6. Ferris State (53)
7. Parkside (49)
8. Purdue Northwest (33)
9. Lake Superior State (32)
10. Davenport (19)
11. Roosevelt (11)
SEASON PREVIEW - HEAD COACH
Head coach
Grant Lofdahl begins his 10th season leading the Wayne State cross country programs after guiding the Warrior women to a fourth-place finish at the 2025 GLIAC Championships. The Warriors have continued to make their mark under Lofdahl, who has paced the women to a top-six showing at the league event in all nine of his previous campaigns (not including 2020). With another competitive season to come, Lofdahl will look to build on the program's recent success and keep Wayne State among the top of the conference standings.
After a 10th-place finish in last year's NCAA Midwest Regional among a field of 27 schools, the Warrior women head into the 2026 season ranked seventh in the USTFCCCA Preseason Regional Rankings.
ROSTER
Wayne State's Roster of 21 student-athletes features 13 returners and eight newcomers, all of which are freshmen. Top returners on the women's side include redshirt senior
Rachel Felstow (Leonard, Mich. / Romeo), sophomore
Ava Peters (Livonia, Mich. / Franklin) and redshirt junior
Anna Gdowski (Northville, Mich. / Northville).
Last season Felstow was named to the GLIAC All-Academic Team and competed at the SVSU Red October (10/17) where she earned 12th place (26:26.72). Peters is coming off a freshman campaign in which she earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors after taking 15th place at the league meet. Gdowski saw action in six events, including a top-10 performance in three of them.
