BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's cross country team has been picked to finish in second place at the 2025 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Championships as the MASCAC Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll was released today by conference director of media relations, Emily Loux.

The Bears received 31 points in the poll with a pair of first-place votes. Five-time defending champion Westfield State University topped the poll with 34 points including four first-place votes. Fitchburg State University rounded out the top three teams in the poll with 25 points.

The 2025 campaign gets underway on Saturday, August 30th when the BSU harriers, under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Christine Kloiber, travel to the Mark Coogan Cross Country Course in Attleboro, Massachusetts for the Suffolk Short Course Classic. The team will also compete at the 5nd Annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday, September 20th, the Keene State Invitational on Saturday, October 4th and the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Connecticut on Saturday, October 18th.

The MASCAC Championships will take place on Saturday, November 1st at Stanley Park in Westfield, Massachusetts with Westfield State University serving as the host institution, while the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Contoocook, New Hampshire will be the site of the NCAA Division III East Region Championships on Saturday, November 15th.

Two-time MASCAC Runner of the Year Naomi Cass (Sr., Westport, Mass.) will help lead the Bears in 2025.