ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced the recipients of the 2025 women’s cross country awards on Wednesday. The top 16 runners at the UMAC Championship were named to the All-Conference Team with the top eight finishers recognized as First-team and the next eight recognized as Second-team. The remaining awards are nominated and voted on by the conference head coaches.
Ella Dufault of Crown defended her title and was the 2025 UMAC Individual Champion with a first-place finish at the UMAC Championship. The junior led the conference field with a time of 23:12.8. She became the first women’s runner with multiple titles since Casey Hovland won three titles from 2015-17.
Campbell Amundson of Bethany Lutheran was named the UMAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman finished eighth at the UMAC Championship with a time of 24:16.4 in her first collegiate championship race.
University of Northwestern head coach Patrick Fitzgerald was named the UMAC Coach of the Year. In his second season leading the Eagles, Coach Fitzgerald led his team to the first UMAC Championship since 2000 in women’s cross country. UNW won the title with 30 points, finishing 15 points ahead of the runner-up.
Northwestern also won the Team Sportsmanship Award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event.
Each team also had one representative earn All-Sportsmanship honors.
Individual Champion: Ella Dufault, Crown
Rookie of the Year: Campbell Amundson, Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year: Patrick Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Team Sportsmanship: Northwestern
First-team All-Conference
| Ella Dufault |
Crown |
Jr. |
Waseca, Minn./Waseca |
| Emery Maki |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing |
| Jemimah Habben |
Martin Luther |
So. |
Flagstaff, Ariz./Luther Prep |
| Natalie Van De Riet |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville |
| Lindsey Morrison |
Crown |
So. |
Apple Valley, Minn./Homeschool |
| Isabelle Yuhanna |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Ham Lake, Minn./North Lakes Academy |
| Caroline Ringsmuth |
Northwestern |
Sr. |
Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove |
| Campbell Amundson |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fr. |
Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown |
Second-team All-Conference
| Sylvia Pesch |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
Pelican Rapids, Minn./Pelican Rapids |
| Ruth Brueckner |
Crown |
Sr. |
Swanton, Vt./Homeschool |
| Cheyanne Scalese |
Northwestern |
Fr. |
Lancaster, Minn./Lancaster |
| Grace Hahm |
Martin Luther |
Fr. |
Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran |
| Alicia Arredondo |
Northwestern |
So. |
Robbinsdale, Minn./Homeschool |
| Mia Arroyo |
Crown |
So. |
Wadena, Minn./Verndale |
| Callie Dufault |
Crown |
Fr. |
Waseca, Minn./Waseca |
| Olivia Stanley |
Crown |
So. |
Verndale, Minn./Verndale |
All-Sportsmanship
| Bethany Lutheran |
Gracelyn Malecek |
Fr. |
Redwood Falls, Minn./Redwood Valley |
| Crown |
Abbie Hough |
Jr. |
Chamberlain, SD/Chamberlain |
| Martin Luther |
Alex Manning |
Jr. |
New Ulm, Minn./Michigan Lutheran Seminary |
| Minnesota Morris |
Ava Miller |
Fr. |
Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti |
| North Central |
Hope Naegelen |
Jr. |
Dresser, Wis./St. Croix Falls |
| Northwestern |
Natalie Van De Riet |
Jr. |
Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville |
| UW-Superior |
Aubrey Peterson |
Jr. |
Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville |