Women's Cross Country | 8/20/2025 4:30:00 PM

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Bloomsburg women's cross country team was selected to finish fifth in the PSAC in the conference preseason poll as voted on by the league's head coaches. The Huskies finished fifth at last year's championship meet.

Slippery Rock University was selected No. 1 in preseason poll.  This season The Rock will be vying for their third straight PSAC championship after winning in 2023 and 2024. Slippery Rock received 10 first-place votes and return a pair of First Team All-Conference honorees from the 2024 championship.

East Stroudsburg was selected as the No. 2 team in the 2025 poll and received six first-place votes. The Warriors finished third as a team at the 2024 PSAC meet and returns three top-25 finishers from last year's championship.
 
Shippensburg, the 2024 PSAC championship runner-up, received one first-place vote and finished as the No. 3 team in this year's poll. The Raiders return a pair of runners that were top-25 at last year's PSAC meet.
 
The No. 4 team in this year's poll is the Kutztown Golden Bears. KU finished fourth as a team in the 2024 championship.
 
Bloomsburg enters the 2025 season ranked as the No. 5 team and looks to improve on their fifth-place finish at last year's PSAC championship. The Huskies return Amanda Kelly (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) (16th at that meet) and Josephine Reed (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) (33^rd).
 
Rounding out the top 10 teams in the 2025 Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll is No. 6 Millersville, No. 7 West Chester, No. 8 Edinboro, No. 9 Lock Haven, and No. 10 Gannon.
 
KEY RETURNERS
Senior Amanda Kelly (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) provides strong leadership for the Huskies as one of two four-year runners at Bloomsburg. Kelly finished 16^th at the 2024 PSAC Championship with a time of 23:16.7 before taking 46^th at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship with a time of 22:26.6.
 
Senior Alyssa Keeley (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) finished 106^th at the PSAC Championships last season with a time of 25:35.7 and brings strong experience as one of two four-year Huskies.
 
The junior class of Alyssa Cunningham (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area), Meah Eshelman (Bedford, Pa./Bedford), Melina Turner (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills), and Sydney Werner (Reading, Pa./Conrad Weiser) gives Bloomsburg depth through the field with experience at both the PSAC Championship and NCAA Atlantic Region Championship meets. Cunningham took 36^th at the 2024 PSAC Championship meet with a time of 23:48.7 and 61^st at the NCAA Region Championship with a time of 22:41.0. Eshelman was 44^th at the PSAC championships with a time of 24:11.6 and set a career-best at the Regional Championship with a time of 23:32.7 to finished 99^th.
 
Turner finished 69^th at the PSAC Championships with a time of 24:40.2 and took 89^th at the Regional Championship with a career-best time of 23:17.1. Werner was 97^th last year at the PSAC Championship meet with a time of 25:26.5.
 
Sophomore Josephine Reed (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) finished 33^rd at the PSAC championship meet a year ago, just outside of All-PSAC consideration with a time of 23:41.7. She took 53^rd at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship with a career-best time of 22:33.4.
 
KEY LOSSES
Head coach Bernie Empie is tasked with replacing two-time NCAA Championship qualifier Kelley Selheimer (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), who finished her carer with Bloomsburg last fall. Selheimer finished seventh overall at the PSAC Championship meet with a time of 22:04.7 before taking seventh at the Atlantic Region Championship with a career-best time of 21:04.8. ended her career with a 105^th-place finish at the National Championship meet with a time of 22:12.9.
 
Jaime Diedel (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) leaves a large hole in the Huskies' line up after taking 78^th at the PSAC Championships (24:53.4) and 87^th at the Regional Championships (23:14.6).
 
WELCOME TO BLOOMSBURG
Coach Empie welcomes a strong class of newcomers to Bloomsburg including graduate student Cori McCormick (Ashland, Pa./North Schuylkill) and freshman Olivia Magagna (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg), who are expected to make an immediate impact. McCormick comes to Bloomsburg after four-year career at Penn State University. McCormick ran a 4:49 in the 1,500-meter run and a 10:23 in the 3K run at PSU.

Magagna posted a 9:57 3K time and a 16:58 5K time in high school.
 
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Huskies will get a preview of the 2025 PSAC Championships when they open the season at the Doug Watts Open at Edinboro on Saturday, September 6 before taking on the DII/III Challenge hosted by Kutztown at September 13. Bloomsburg makes the quick trip west to run at the Lock Haven Invitational on September 27 to close out the first month of the season.
 
Bloomsburg opens the month of October at the Paul Short XC Run hosted by Lehigh University on October 3 before taking a two-week training break before the PSAC Championships. The 2025 PSAC Cross Country Championships are at Edinboro this year on Saturday, October 25. Bloomsburg runs again at the Go Fast River Run hosted by Lock Haven on November 1 before the 2025 NCAA Atlantic Region Championship is hosted by Lock Haven on November 8.
 
2025 PSAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll (# of first-place votes in parentheses)
 
1. Slippery Rock (10)
2. East Stroudsburg (6)
3. Shippensburg (1)
4. Kutztown
5. Bloomsburg
6. Millersville
7. West Chester
8. Edinboro
9. Lock Haven
10. Gannon
11. IUP
12. Clarion
13. California
14. Pitt-Johnstown
15. Seton Hill
16. Mansfield
17. Shepherd