Men's Cross Country | 12/3/2025 1:20:00 PM

Madison, Wis. - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior Grant Matthai of Wauwatosa (East) has been named the 2025 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year while UWL swept the WIAC Men's and Women's Coaching Staff of the Year Award. The league office announced the awards Wednesday. 

Matthai is the second runner in school history to be named the WIAC Athlete of the Year, joining Josh Schraeder (2019) and Ethan Gregg (2023).
 

Matthai earned his second career National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III All-America honors this season, finishing fifth overall in helping lead UWL to its second straight national title. He was third last season to earn All-America laurels after finishing 70th in 2022 and 63rd in 2023. Matthai has three career NCAA Division III North Regional honors, placing second this season, third in 2024 and fourth in 2023. 

A team captain this season, Matthai won his second straight WIAC cross country championship this year to help UWL win its eighth straight title. He was the first runner to win back-to-back conference crowns since Ian LaMere from UW-Platteville in 2015 and 2016.  Matthai was third at the 2023 league championships and 12th in 2022.

He was also second this year at the Augustana College (Ill.) Interregional Invitational, 10th at the St. Olaf College (Minn.) invitational and 17th at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) Invitational.

It marks the fifth time (2018, 2022-25) UWL has earned the WIAC Men's Coaching Staff of the Year Award. Stanley was also selected the 2013 and 2017 WIAC Men's Coach of the Year. 

UWL earned the WIAC Women's Coaching Staff of the Year Award for the third time (2021-22, 2025) in school history. Stanley was selected the 2013, 2014 and 2016 WIAC Women's Coach of the Year.

The WIAC Coach of the Year award was re-named the WIAC Coaching Staff of the Year starting in 2018. 

Stanley, assistant coaches Sierra Rabe and Hannah Beilke, strength and conditioning coordinator Phil Whitesitt and staff athletic trainer Kelsey Galles helped lead UWL to a sweep of this year's NCAA Division III North Regional and WIAC Championships. The men's squad captured its second straight NCAA Division III title in 2025 while winning its third consecutive regional crown and eighth straight league title.

UWL men's team also won titles at the St. Olaf College (Minn.) Invitational and Augustana College (Ill.) Interregional Invitational and a dual victory over Luther College (Iowa). 
 

The women's team placed 12th at the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships after taking its second straight regional title and fifth consecutive WIAC championship.

UWL won the UW-Eau Claire Invitational and Augustana (Ill.) Interregional Invitational while placing second at the St. Olaf (Minn.) Invitational and the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) Invitational. The Eagles also won the Luther (Iowa) Dual. 

For the first time in school history, all 14 runners (men and women) earned NCAA Division III North Region accolades this season by placing in the top 35. At this year's WIAC Championships, the men's squad had nine of the top 15 finishers while the women's team had nine of the top 12 runners.

Stanley was named the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). He was also selected the NCAA Division III North Regional Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.  It is the second straight year Stanley earned all three awards.

He completed his 14th season as UWL's head men's and women's cross country coach in 2025. Stanley also serves as an assistant coach for the Eagles' women's and men's track & field squads. He has led the men's team to two (2024-25) national titles and 10 (2012-13, 2017-19, 2021-25) conference championships. Stanley has guided the women's program to eight (2013-14, 2016, 2021-25) WIAC Championships.
 

Rabe completed her second season as an assistant cross country coach this season while also serving as the Eagles' recruiting coordinator. Rabe was a four-year member of UWL's cross country team and three-year member of the track & field squad. She was cross country team captain in 2023 and 2024 and a member of three WIAC Championship teams. Rabe was a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships. 

Beilke is in her fifth season as an assistant cross country and track & field coach at UWL in 2025-26. A four-year letter winner for Eagles' cross country team, Beilke was named the 2018 WIAC Athlete of the Year after winning the league title.  She earned NCAA Division III All-America honors with an 18th-place championship finish in 2018. Beilke competed at the 2015 and 2017 NCAA III Championships.

Whitesitt serves as UWL's Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for Intercollegiate Athletics. He was a member of the UWL track and field team from 2001-04 when the team won eight straight national championships.  He was a four-time NCAA III All-America in the 35-pound weight throw and hammer. 

Galles is in her fifth year as a staff athletic trainer at UWL. She arrived at UWL after serving as the athletic trainer at Everett Community College (Wash.) from 2017-21. Galles was a member of UWL's gymnastics team, helping lead the Eagles to the 2010 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) Championship.