MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's regionally-ranked men's and women's cross country teams will battle for league supremacy at the Midwest Conference Championships Saturday at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids.
 
The Rams are hosting the Championships for the first time since 2015. The men's 8K race starts at 11 a.m., followed by the women's 6K at 12 p.m. The top 20 finishers in each race earn all-conference status.
 
Fans can purchase tickets here. MWC students, faculty and staff with an ID and ages 12-and-under are admitted free.
 
Coach Jerry Frawley's Rams are the defending MWC men's champions and have won four of the last seven contested team titles. Despite graduating six all-conference runners from 2024, Cornell climbed into the Midwest Region rankings last week at No. 8 and fields Saturday's race favorite in senior Isaac vanWestrienen.
 
Honored as the USTFCCCA Division III Athlete of the Week Oct. 20, vanWestrienen ran away with last year's MWC title by 45 seconds and is fresh off a lifetime-best mark of 23:57. He'll try to become Cornell's fourth MWC individual champion in the past five years.
 
Sophomore newcomer Jake Bach enters with the MWC's second-fastest time in 24:40. Isaac Morris is seeded 19th (27:13), Jaxon Barnes 24th (27:24) and Caleb Long 38th (28:06).
 
Lawrence is the men's team favorite with five individuals ranked in the MWC's top 10. The Vikings are ranked No. 10 in the North Region.
 
The Rams won last year's title by a 43-55 margin over runner-up Lawrence. Grinnell also figures to be in the mix at the top.  
 
The women's race features three regionally-ranked squads in No. 5 Grinnell, No. 7 Cornell and No. 9 Ripon (North Region). The host Rams are poised to improve on last year's fourth-place showing with five individuals ranked in the MWC's top 30.
 
Sophomore Lidia Dahlman is Cornell's front runner, posting the league's third-fastest mark in 22:31. She placed 10th last year in her MWC debut. 
 
Senior Alyza Koppes recorded top 10 all-conference finishes each of the past two years, taking sixth (2024) and eighth (2023). She holds the 10th-fastest mark this fall (23:03).  
 
Mackenzie Engbert is seeded 11th (23:12), Ava Claussen-Tubbs 18th (23:55), Carley Seeley 26th (24:19), Milar Little 32nd (24:44), Zoe Peesel 35th (25:07) and Sophie Stumbo 37th (25:14).
 
Ripon owns the top two individual times with Joley Berger (22:04) and Jenny Cortes (22:18). Grinnell has five runners ranked in the top 12.
 
Lawrence is the defending women's team champion. The Vikings beat runner-up Grinnell last year, 34-45.