ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference announced its 2026 Women's Cross Country All-Conference awards on Tuesday afternoon, and after a second-place finish at Saturday's UMAC Championship, the Eagles were well represented across the list.
The full UMAC press release can be found here.
Emery Maki's (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) name appeared three times in the award announcement after she captured the individual title with a time of 23:04.8. She became the first Eagle to win the conference championship since 2001. Along with Individual Champion honors, Maki earned First-Team All-Conference and All-Sportsmanship recognition for the leadership and classiness she displayed throughout the season. The senior has now earned All-Conference honors in all three of her seasons at Northwestern, and her championship performance was also a personal best that ranks second in program history.
Natalie Van De Riet (Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) joined Maki on the First Team after finishing second at the championship meet. It marked the first time in program history that Northwestern claimed both first and second at the UMAC Championship. The honor is Van De Riet's second First Team selection, adding to a season in which she earned UMAC Runner of the Week honors three times.
Alicia Arredondo (Robbinsdale, Minn./Homeschool), Chloe Zimmerman (Helena, Mont./Capital), and Cheyanne Scalese (Lancaster, Minn./Lancaster Public) were named Second-Team All-Conference performers. Arredondo and Scalese repeated from last season, while Zimmerman earned the honor for the first time. The trio finished within a minute of each other in 10th, 13th, and 15th place. Arredondo led the group with a personal best time of 24:36.0, while Zimmerman and Scalese crossed in 25:01.9 and 25:21.2.
Patrick Fitzgerald was named UMAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season, earning the honor in just his third year leading the Eagles.
2026 Women's Cross Country Awards:
Individual Champion: Emery Maki (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing), Northwestern
Rookie of the Year: Claire Fischer, Martin Luther
Coach of the Year: Patrick Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Team Sportsmanship: Crown College
First-team All-Conference
|
Emery Maki (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing)
|
Northwestern
|
|
Natalie Van De Riet (Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville)
|
Northwestern
|
|
Grace Hahm
|
Martin Luther
|
|
Brooklyn Hart
|
Crown
|
|
Jemimah Habben
|
Martin Luther
|
|
Ella Dufault
|
Crown
|
|
Claire Fischer
|
Martin Luther
|
|
Ruth Brueckner
|
Crown
|
Second-team All-Conference
|
Lindsey Morrison
|
Crown
|
|
Alicia Arredondo (Robbinsdale, Minn./Homeschool)
|
Northwestern
|
|
Callie Dufault
|
Crown
|
|
Lilley Smith
|
UW-Superior
|
|
Chloe Zimmerman (Helena, Mont./Capital)
|
Northwestern
|
|
Campbell Amundson
|
Bethany Lutheran
|
|
Cheyanne Scalese (Lancaster, Minn./Lancaster Public)
|
Northwestern
|
|
Amelia Olson
|
UW-Superior
|
All-Sportsmanship
|
Bethany Lutheran
|
Taryn Zellman
|
|
Crown
|
Brooklyn Hart
|
|
Martin Luther
|
Liberty VanDen Heuvel
|
|
Minnesota Morris
|
Ava Miller
|
|
North Central
|
Mary Fossell
|
|
Northwestern
|
Emery Maki (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing)
|
|
UW-Superior
|
Kwynn Krause
|
