2025 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6

NEW ORLEANS – Saying that Interregional Weekend delivered is an understatement.

Historic races left a big mark on the most recent NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll that was released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). All USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by Athletic NET.

NCAA Division III — Women's Cross Country

This Week's National Top Five

1
Williams

2
MIT

3
Johns Hopkins

4
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

5
NYU

Cross Country Polls & Rankings

NATIONAL POLL

REGIONAL RANKINGS

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The weekend’s biggest race took place at the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, Connecticut, where – for the first time in USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll history – the top five teams faced each other at the same regular season meet. A heavyweight title fight was on tap between No. 1 NYU, No. 2 Williams, No. 3 Johns Hopkins, No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and No. 5 MIT – and those teams delivered, especially the champion Ephs.

Williams emerged victorious in the Constitution State, winning by 24 points over defending national champion MIT. The Ephs, now ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2016 (and unanimously, at that), put five runners across the line before any other team had four. Morgan Eigel led the way in fifth place, while Kate Swann (12^th), Tamar Byl-Brann (13^th), and Jordan Liss-Riordan (19^th) all finished in the top 20. Williams boasted a deadly 22.7-second spread between Eigel and their fifth runner Charlene Peng, who crossed in 22^nd place.

MIT showed poise, securing a clear runner-up finish behind the Ephs. The Engineers were paced by Gillian Roeder (seventh) and Rujuta Sane (ninth) and were one of just two teams with multiple athletes in the top ten – the other being third-place Johns Hopkins, which remains ranked third ahead of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and former No. 1 NYU, which fell four spots.

Middlebury was another standout at the Connecticut College Invitational. The Panthers, now ranked ninth following a four-spot improvement, saw star junior Audrey MacLean capture another individual title and earn M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors. MacLean’s low stick, combined with an 11^th-place finish by freshman Claire Palmer, helped Middlebury overcome depth issues to finish sixth as a team. The Panthers outpaced Carleton, Connecticut College, SUNY Geneseo, and Tufts – all of whom had been ranked ahead of them the previous week.

Halfway across the nation, UW-La Crosse and Trine starred at the Augustana Interregional Invitational in Rock Island, Illinois. The sixth-ranked Eagles cemented their position as the best team not to compete at the Connecticut College Invitational, beating the Thunder by 20 points, 88-108. By finishing second, Trine, now No. 8, beat the likes of UChicago and Washington (Mo) – both of whom had been ranked ahead of them the previous week – and rewarded justly.

We have two stops left until the 2025 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 22, in Spartanburg, South Carolina: Conference Championships Weekend in two weeks and then Regional Championships Saturday on November 15.