Meet Recap: 2025 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships

Champions were crowned on Saturday at the 2025 NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships!

The meet was held at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | USTFCCCA Scoreboard
Related: National Championships Central | Rankings & Polls Central

Men’s 8k Race

They were who we thought they were.

Emmanuel Leblond of Johns Hopkins and No. 1 UW–La Crosse entered Saturday as the odds-on favorites to win their respective individual and team titles at Milliken Research Park. Those projections proved correct, as both Leblond and the top-ranked Eagles reigned over the rest of Division III’s best.

Leblond ran with the who’s who of Division III through the first 5k — Grant Matthai of UW–La Crosse, Mohammed Bati of Augsburg, Isaac Vanwesttrinen of Cornell College, and Isaiah Hammerand of Wartburg — all within one second of the lead. That group shrank to four by 6k, and by 7k only Bati and Leblond remained. Leblond then shifted into another gear, pulling away to give Johns Hopkins its first individual champion in program history. He covered the 8k course in 23:35.0, more than four seconds ahead of Bati.

With Matthai leading the way, the Eagles took control by 2k and never let go. UW-La Crosse placed three runners in the top ten — Matthai in fifth, Aidan Matthai in seventh, and Jayden Zywicki in ninth — plus another in the top 20, cruising to an 82–132 victory over No. 4 SUNY Geneseo. It’s the Eagles’ fifth national title, moving them into sole possession of second place in Division III history behind North Central (Ill.).

No. 2 Wartburg, paced by Hammerand, finished just one point back in third. No. 5 NYU and No. 6 RPI rounded out the top five with 175 and 182 points, respectively.

Women’s 6k Race

It was a race – until it wasn’t.

Audrey MacLean of Middlebury and No. 2 NYU imposed their will over the final 4k of Saturday’s 6k championship. MacLean surged away from the pack between 2k and 3k and never looked back, cruising to a commanding 48.3-second victory over Jules Bleskoski of RPI, 20:16.8 to 21:05.1. The Violets held second through 3k before storming into the lead by 4k, opening a 19-point margin. They only widened that gap over the final stretch, ultimately defeating No. 1 Williams, 79–106.

NYU had never won a title at this meet, and it made sure it wouldn’t leave empty-handed on Saturday. The Violets placed four runners in the top 15 – Grace Rowley in eighth, Janie Cooper in tenth, Josephine Dziedzic in 11th, and Ashlyn Pallota in 29th – and with Stella Kuttner finishing 38th, their entire scoring lineup earned All-America honors.

The top-ranked Ephs ran a strong race with six athletes in the scored top 40. Williams had five All-America athletes of its own and finished with a 32.3-second spread.

No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took third behind the Ephs with 133 points. No. 4 Johns Hopkins was fourth with 140, followed by No. 3 MIT with 232.