KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Montana Tech's women's cross country team will start off the 2025 season where the 2024 season ended — ranked No. 23 in the NAIA. 

The Oredigger men also received votes in the NAIA's coaches' poll, the national office announced this week with its full slate of preseason rankings. 

Tech's women won the first Frontier Conference championship in program history a season ago and, last week, the Orediggers were voted the preseason favorite in the Frontier Conference by the league's coaches. The 2024 iteration of the Tech women's cross country team finished 21st at the NAIA championship meet last November. 

Two other Frontier women's teams appeared in the initial poll — Carroll checked in at No. 24, and Dakota State received votes. On the men's side, the Orediggers joined No. 12 Carroll, No. 17 Rocky Mountain, and Bellevue (RV) in the rankings. 

The gun fires on Montana Tech's 2025 season Friday in Bozeman at the MSU Bobcat Twilight. 
 

2025 NAIA Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Top 25

RANK	INSTITUTION	POINTS
1	Taylor (Ind.)	507
2	Milligan (Tenn.)	488
3	The Master's (Calif.)	475
4	Cumberlands (Ky.)	436
5	Saint Mary (Kan.)	434
6	Marian (Ind.)	407
7	Grace (Ind.)	382
8	SCAD Savannah (Ga.)	380
9	Dordt (Iowa)	364
10	Montreat (N.C.)	359
11	Indiana Wesleyan	342
12	College of Idaho	329
13	Kansas Wesleyan	307
14	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	305
15	Cornerstone (Mich.)	271
16	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	252
17	Aquinas (Mich.)	216
18	SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)	212
19	Southern Oregon	201
20	Eastern Oregon	170
21	Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)	132
22	St. Francis (Ill.)	123
23	Montana Tech	121
24	Carroll (Mont.)	87
25	Oklahoma City	86

Receiving Votes: Benedictine (Kan.) 79, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 77, Saint Francis (Ind.) 65, Rio Grande (Ohio) 46, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 15, Huntington (Ind.) 11, Saint Mary (Neb.) 11, Indiana Tech 8, Dakota State (S.D.) 7, Doane (Neb.) 6, Shawnee State (Ohio) 5, William Carey (Miss.) 5, John Brown (Ark.) 3, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 3. 

2025 NAIA Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Top 25

RANK	INSTITUTION	POINTS
1	The Master's (Calif.)	496
2	Milligan (Tenn.)	486
3	Taylor (Ind.)	471
4	Cumberlands (Ky.)	465
5	Marian (Ind.)	421
6	Spring Arbor (Mich.)	409
7	College of Idaho	382
8	Indiana Wesleyan	365
9	Corban (Ore.)	363
10	Saint Mary (Kan.)	338
11	Eastern Oregon	333
12	Carroll (Mont.)	331
13	Indiana-East	324
14	Doane (Neb.)	307
15	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	254
16	Aquinas (Mich.)	238
17	Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	230
18	Dordt (Iowa)	219
T-19	Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)	177
T-19	Montreat (N.C.)	177
21	Goshen (Ind.)	113
22	Southern Oregon	112
23	Kansas Wesleyan	110
24	Shawnee State (Ohio)	107
25	Rio Grande (Ohio)	100

Receiving Votes: St. Francis (Ill.) 93, Trinity Western (B.C.) 84, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 68, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 31, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 30, Cornerstone (Mich.) 16, Tennessee Southern 15, Columbia (Mo.) 8, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 8, Indiana Tech 6, Montana Tech 6, SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 5, Bellevue (Neb.) 2.

Ratings Methodology

• The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team's rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."

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