The UIS women's cross country team will enter the 2026 season ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches poll released Tuesday.

The Prairie Stars received 126 points, narrowly trailing third-place Maryville (129) and finishing ahead of Drury (125). Lewis was selected as the preseason favorite with 169 points, including 13 first-place votes, while Southwest Baptist received the remaining first-place vote and 152 total points.

The fourth-place projection follows a third-place finish for UIS at the 2025 GLVC Championship, a program best. The Prairie Stars will look for another strong performance in 2026 behind a veteran group of seniors, including Kali Gaden, Lauren McBride, Marissa Roggensack, Alli Thompson and Kaleigh Inniss. Inniss enters the season as a two-time All-GLVC honoree in cross country after earning conference recognition in each of the past two seasons.

UIS will open the 2026 campaign at home on Friday, Sept. 4, hosting the 11th annual Prairie Stars Invitational. A longtime staple of the schedule, the meet provides the Prairie Stars with their lone home competition of the season and features several nearby schools along with GLVC opponents Quincy and Missouri-St. Louis.

GLVC Release