DETROIT -- For the second year in a row, the Wayne State University men's cross country team was picked to finish fourth out of 10 schools in the 2026 GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday afternoon.
The top five squads in the poll consisted of Grand Valley State (81 points, nine first-place votes), Saginaw Valley State (72 points, one first-place nod), Michigan Tech (62 points), Wayne State (61 points) and Ferris State (43 points). The entire poll is listed below:
1. Grand Valley State 81(9)
2. Saginaw Valley State 72 (1)
3. Michigan Tech (62)
4. Wayne State (61)
5. Ferris State (43)
6. Parkside (42)
7. Davenport (38)
8. Purdue Northwest (25)
9. Lake Superior State (17)
10. Roosevelt (9)
SEASON PREVIEW - HEAD COACH
Head coach
Grant Lofdahl enters his 10th season at the helm of the Wayne State cross country program after guiding the Warriors to a fourth-place finish at the 2025 GLIAC Championships. The Warriors have continued to make their mark under Lofdahl, who has paced the men to a top-five showing at the league event in seven of his previous nine campaigns (not including 2020). With another competitive slate ahead, Lofdahl will look to build on the program's recent success and keep Wayne State among the top of the conference standings.
After a seventh place finish in last years 2025 poll the warrior men head into the 2026 season ranked eighth in the 2026 NCAA DII Men's Cross Country Regional Rankings.
ROSTER
Wayne State's roster of 24 student-athletes features 17 returners and seven newcomers, six of which are true freshmen, and one transfer. Top returners on the men's side include redshirt senior
Ty Nagy (Commerce Township, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland), junior
Sean Pettis (Traverse City, Mich. / Traverse City Central) and senior
Jared Platt (White Lake, Mich. / White Lake Lakeland).
In the 2025 campaign, Nagy competed in four events for Wayne State, two of which he placed in the top 15. Pettis, the program's Rookie of the Year in 2024, appeared in five meets for the Green and Gold last fall while placing among the top 10 in three of those five events. Platt is coming off a 2025 fall in which he earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors. Coach Lofdahl expects a larger role for each of those three this coming season.
