KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Over the past two seasons, the women's cross country program at Shawnee State has been building its way up toward national recognition as a whole.

On Thursday afternoon, the entire program was able to officially check off that box -- as Conner Flynn's women jumped up from the receiving votes position in the 2025 Preseason NAIA Women's Cross Country Rating to No. 25 overall in the rankings as one of three teams who jumped into the NAIA National Top 25 Rating, which was released by the NAIA National Office Thursday afternoon.

Shawnee State, who claimed 83 points from coaches who voted on the NAIA Women's Cross Country Top 25 Rating, edged Dakota State (S.D.) by three points, Oklahoma City (Okla.) by five points and Morningside (Iowa) by six tallies for the final spot in the rankings.

The poll marks the first time that Shawnee State has appeared in the National Top 25 in women's cross country since the final poll of the 2019 season on Nov. 25 of that year, where the Bears finished 20th.

Shawnee State senior harrier Olivia Cisco has been terrific all season long as per the norm -- running back-to-back 22:05s to match her new school record 6K time at the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Meet and All-Ohio XC Classic, respectively while finishing inside the top-10 at every meet, finishing ninth, third and eighth between the Thundering Herd Invitational and the latter two events.

A stout runner herself, Jessica Elick has finished inside the top-40 overall in each of her three meets, finishing 18th, 20th and 40th at the Thundering Herd Invitational, the Indiana Wesleyan Twilight Meet and the All-Ohio XC Classic, respectively.

Behind the main duo, Juniper Allen and Beth Middleton have placed inside the main scoring five all season, while sophomore transfer Riley Colestock and true freshman Payton McQuirt have proved additional depth as the pair have already produced strong returns themselves. 

Whitney Adams, Natalie Brammer, Hadlee Cisco, Maddison Dietrich, Kirsten Evans, Emma Hurst, Sydney Reed, Amanda Salmons, Allison Taylor and Maggie Taylor compete the Shawnee State lineup, with each of those 10 runners pushing their respective teammates.

For more information on the Shawnee State women's cross country program, visit https://ssubears.com/sports/womens-cross-country or follow the Bears on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shawnee_state_xctf/.