Rio women picked third in RSC coaches poll

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     OXFORD, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande has been picked to finish third in the 2025 River States Conference Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll.
     The poll, announced Tuesday by the league office, saw each of the conference's 11 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
     Rio Grande finished with one first-place vote and 83 points in the balloting.
     Two-time defending conference champion Indiana University East was picked to make it a three-peat, finishing in first place with nine first-place nods and 99 points.
     The Red Wolves dominated the 2024 RSC Championships in Evansville, Ind., winning the team title with 47 points.
     Shawnee State, like Rio Grande, had a first-place vote and tallied 90 points to finish in second place. The Bears boast the top returning runner from 2024 - First Team All-Conference selection Olivia Cisco, now a senior.
     Midway was picked to finish fourth with 71 points and Indiana University Kokomo checked in at fifth with 67 points, while the Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods tallied 55 points and are picked to finish in the middle of the conference at sixth place.
     The bottom half of the poll sees IU Columbus seventh (44 pts.), Brescia eighth (38 pts.), WVU Tech ninth (27 pts.) and Oakland City 10th (21 pts.), with RSC newcomer Kentucky Christian rounding out the conference in 11th place with 10 points.
     The RSC cross country schedule is scheduled to begin Friday, August 29 with five teams in competition, including three at the Thundering Herd Invitational on the campus of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
     The season will culminate in Rio Grande, Ohio on Saturday, November 8 when a champion is decided at the River States Conference Championships, with the University of Rio Grande serving as host school.