By Audrey Allen
October 8, 2025
If you’re still experiencing withdrawals from the 2025 track season, scrolling ever deeper into the post-Japan algorithm while awake, and suffering from fever dreams of finishing kicks while asleep, help is here. If Chicago or ATHLOS isn’t enough for your weekly fandom fix, fear not: collegiate cross country is back.
We’re already on week three, but it’s understandable if you’re still catching up (and confused by the 80-degree October weather across much of the U.S.). In case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a refresher on the state of the season.
What’s the same as last year?
The Iowa State and Oklahoma State men are still dominant. The BYU women still seem to have an endless roster of low sticks. And the national meet is still in the Midwest, but this year’s host is the “Show Me State,” Missouri, instead of “America’s Dairyland,” Wisconsin.
What’s different from last year?
Mike Smith is no longer a part of the collegiate scene. BYU mainstay Casey Clinger finally aged out of the NCAA and turned pro. Two-time NCAA Cross Country champion and soon-to-be Izumo Ekiden-racer Graham Blanks, three-time cross country All-American/2:11 Olympic Marathoner Yaseen Abdalla, and our favorite middle-to-distance merchant Liam Murphy are done with the collegiate ranks as well. For the women: perennial individual title contender Ceili McCabe, U.S. steeplechase champ Lexy Halladay-Lowry, and the top four scorers from last year’s Providence team, which produced one of the biggest shocks in Madison with their third-place finish, have all moved on.
It’s hard to tell because many of the top returners have yet to open their seasons, but it looks like the NC State women—ranked second in the country now—are back after an eighth-place finish at the national meet last year. They won the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational without the U.S.’s top steeplechaser, Angelina Napoleon, or 2024 NCAAs fifth-placer Grace Hartman. Hannah Gapes filled the gaps for the Wolfpack and remains undefeated so far this cross country season; she must be carrying the momentum off a New Zealand national title from August and an already-punched ticket to January’s World Cross Country championships in Tallahassee. Plus, Sadie Engelhardt finished 10th in an even 20:00 6km in her collegiate debut.
Who’s new here?
In non-Wolfpack news, FSU freshman Rylee Blade finished third, making it back-to-back bronze finishes across her first two races in the NCAA. While the aforementioned ACC duo of Engelhardt and Blade, as well as Stanford youngster Hanne Thomsen (third in the B-Race at Gans Creek) have impressed in their early showings, we’re all still waiting on high school sensation Jane Hedengren to debut in BYU’s navy blue. One new and notable Cougar who has donned the BYU split shorts is Tayvon Kitchen, who finished a very respectable 34th at Gans Creek. Kitchen’s high school teammate Josiah Tostenson hasn’t opened up yet for the Huskies of Washington, nor has the nation’s fastest nepo baby Owen Powell.
Who are some underdog teams to watch?
Year Two of the Sean Carlson Experience at Colorado is kicking into full gear. After a 19th-place national finish for the men last year—the women missed the meet entirely—both Buffalo squads jumped up the rankings after finishing third at the Gans Creek Classic in Missouri, which served as a pre-pre-Nats preview of the Nationals course for many teams. The women have climbed from 26th to 10th in the national rankings, while the men catapulted from 13th to fifth. Other big risers include the Michigan State men (now 16th), led by Gans Creek eighth-placer Riley Hough, and the also-16th-ranked Iowa State women.
It’s also worth noting that rumors of NAU’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The Lumberjacks don’t look to have lost a step with Smith’s successor, Jarred Cornfield at the helm. The women are ranked sixth and the men 13th.
What else has happened so far?
The 6K in Columbia, Missouri, was a breakout race for first-placer Rosemary Longisa of WSU and runner-up Mary Ogwoka of Tennessee, who went neck-and-neck to the finish and led a staggering 22 more women under the previous course record of 19:50.1. Another statement was made by fourth-place finisher Angelina Perez of Wake Forest, who officially ran her way onto the Unofficial Lap Count NCAA XC Watchlist. On the team side, Florida’s gun-to-tape win over NAU bumped them up nine spots to third in the national poll, their highest ranking since 2009. Oregon’s sixth-place finish is misleading, because they were missing a ton of front-running firepower from the likes of Şilan Ayyıldız, Diana Cherotich, and Mia Barnett.
On the men’s side, Solomon Kipchoge silenced any doubt after a DNF at Nationals last year, completing the WSU win sweep with a 22:24.7 run. But he had to fend off a challenge from Iowa State’s Joash Ruto, who finished seven seconds behind, leading the Cyclones to a team title with every scorer in the top 19. Behind them was No. 4-ranked Virginia with five scorers inside the top 32, led by certified cross country guy Gary Martin.
The party continued over at Oklahoma State’s Cowboy Jamboree, where the BYU women took a comfortable win led by senior and second-place finisher Riley Chamberlain, who’s clearly bounced back quickly from a long track season. But it was an even better day for Isca Chelangat, the winner and only sub-20:00 finisher; in her NCAA debut she led her team to a runner-up team finish ahead of a Pamela Kosgei-less New Mexico. As for the men, the home team OSU Cowboys prevailed 36-41 over New Mexico, with both teams missing a contender for the individual title (Brian Musau and Habtom Samuel). Denis Kipngetich took the win for the Cowboys in 23:33.7—a strong chapter in a storyline of redemption for the OSU men, after their NCAA champs appearance fell well short of expectations.
UNC’s new dynamic duo Colton Sands and Tomer Tarrango went 2-3 at in the men’s race at Sean Earl Lakefront, but it was Louisville freshman Elsingi Kipruto with a seven-second win in 23:14.44, and the Wisconsin men notching the team title that took the spotlight. Other interesting notes from the weekend include Mary Bonner Dalton’s 5K PB (track included) for the win in 15:53.1 that led the Notre Dame women to victory at Joe Piane; Georgetown’s Melissa Riggins securing a commanding victory at Paul Short; and Tamrat Gavenas, the man forever known as the final Foot Locker champion, finishing third in his Harvard debut.
What’s next?
This weekend is a bit mellow on paper, with Oregon’s Dellinger Invitational attracting a weaker field than normal, but it’s all because we’ve got a tantalizing two days of action coming up on October 17th and 18th. The nation’s top teams will split their efforts between Nuttycombe in Madison, and Pre-Nats in Columbia. And believe it or not, the Big Dance is now only 45 days away.
Audrey Allen
Audrey is a student-athlete at UCLA (Go Bruins!) studying Communications with minors in Professional Writing and Entrepreneurship. When she’s not spiking up for cross country and track, she loves being involved with the media side of the sport. You’ll often find her taking photos from the sidelines or designing graphics on her laptop.
