2025 NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Preseason ::: USTFCCCA

NEW ORLEANS – Are you prepared for it?

The collegiate cross nation season formally will get underway on Friday, August 29.

We couldn’t consider a greater solution to welcome the brand new season than to launch the preseason version of the NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Rankings for 2025.

Regional Rankings are decided subjectively by a single member coach in every respective area. The regional consultant is tasked with weighing returning groups’ energy with present season outcomes (if relevant) in figuring out a rank-order of squad potential. Only USTFCCCA member applications are eligible to obtain a rating. Teams with provisional standing inside the area could also be ranked.

Regional Championships Friday set for November 14. That’s once we’ll be taught which two groups from every area will mechanically qualify for the upcoming 2025 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 22, in Columbia, Missouri.

Great Lakes Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Wisconsin

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Toledo

Notes: Defending regional champion Notre Dame headlines the preseason rankings. The Irish welcome again 4 athletes who ran 15:55 or sooner over the 5k distance on the monitor. Notre Dame additionally added a number of key transfers, together with Lexi Allen from Princeton, in addition to a number of gifted freshmen, specifically Chloe Huyler and Rosie Mucharsky.

Wisconsin returns six athletes from final 12 months’s squad, specifically top-20 regional finishers Nora Gremban (sixteenth) and Bella Jacobson (seventeenth). If 2024 Big Ten indoor 5k champion Leane Willemse returns to kind, the Badgers can have a formidable lineup come championship time.

No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Michigan, and No. 5 Toledo spherical out the highest 5.

Mid-Atlantic Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 West Virginia, No. 2 Georgetown

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Villanova, No. 5 Princeton

Notes: Last 12 months West Virginia captured its first regional title since 2008 after which shocked the nation with its runner-up end on the NCAA Championships. Now, the Mountaineers are the top-ranked squad within the area for simply the fourth time in program historical past. And whereas WVU graduated three of its top-five runners, it does return All-American Joy Kaukot.

Georgetown sits forward of No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Villanova, and No. 5 Princeton due to the robust trio on the prime of its lineup: Melissa Riggins, Aimi Nerukar, and Charlotte Tomkinson. Riggins took a giant step throughout the monitor & area seasons with fourth-place finishes in each the mile and 1500 meters on the NCAA Championships.

Midwest Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Minnesota

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Northwestern, No. 5 Oklahoma

Notes: Three-time defending champion Oklahoma State holds down the highest spot coming into the 2025 season. The Cowgirls return three top-15 finishers from final 12 months’s regional meet: Josephine Mwaura (fourth), Victoria Lagat (seventh), and Colleen Stegmann (thirteenth). OSU additionally welcomes again Billah Jepkirui, who received the regional title in 2023 and took seventh on the NCAA Championships.

Minnesota is projected to seize the area’s second computerized qualifier forward of Iowa State, Northwestern, and Oklahoma. The Golden Gophers return regional runner-up Ali Weimer, plus two different top-16 finishers from 2024: Isabelle Schmitz (fifteenth) and Izzy Roemer (sixteenth).

Mountain Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 BYU, No. 2 New Mexico

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Northern Arizona, No. 4 Utah, No. 5 Colorado

Notes: It’s arduous to select towards the defending regional and nationwide champions. BYU is the top-ranked staff within the Mountain Region for the primary time since 2021. The Cougars welcome again 4 of their top-five athletes from final 12 months’s regional championship staff – all who completed within the prime ten: Riley Chamberlain, Carmen Alder, Taylor Rohnitsky, and Taylor Lovell. BYU additionally has a stacked freshman class led by phenom Jane Hedengren.

New Mexico has arguably probably the most dynamic one-two punch on the prime of its lineup with defending regional champion Pamela Kosgei and Mercy Kiarei. This is the Lobos’ greatest preseason rank since they had been No. 1 in 2022 (UNM was fourth each in 2023 and 2024).

No. 3 Northern Arizona, No. 4 Utah, and No. 5 Colorado spherical out the top-five groups.

Northeast Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Providence, No. 2 Boston College

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Harvard, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 5 UConn

Notes: Defending champion Providence is projected to take one other regional title in 2025. The Friars, who finally completed third on the NCAA Championships, return a number of runners from that squad, together with Emily Bush, Anna Gardiner, Cara Laverty, and Niamh O’Mahony. Providence additionally added Florida switch Gabby Schmidt and a number of other standout prep athletes.

Boston College holds down the second spot, matching its greatest preseason rank since 2015. The Eagles welcome again at the least 4 athletes from their 2024 squad, together with Ella Fadil and Abby Lewis. Boston College, which ranks forward of No. 3 Harvard, No. 4 Syracuse, and No. 5 UConn, added a number of transfers, specifically Beth Barlow from Florida State and Camryn Menninger from Virginia.

South Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Lipscomb, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Tennessee

Notes: Alabama, winner of two of the previous three regional titles, returns six of its seven runners from that squad, specifically NCAA champion Doris Lemngole and Brenda Tuwei. The Crimson Tide additionally added a number of newcomers, together with Cynthia Jemutai and Caren Kiplagat from Kenya.

Florida, which sits second to start the season forward of No. 3 Lipscomb, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 5 Tennessee, welcomes again three of its prime 4 runners, together with regional champion Hilda Olemomoi and Tia Wilson. The Gators additionally recruited effectively within the offseason so as to add expertise.

South Central Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Tulane

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 LSU

Notes: Death, taxes, and Arkansas on the prime of the South Central Region within the preseason. You must go all the way in which again to 2011 to seek out the final time the Razorbacks weren’t the top-ranked squad. Arkansas returns 4 runners from final 12 months’s regional championship staff, specifically Paityn Noe who had a dynamite 2024. Noe was seventh on the NCAA Cross Country after which earned two First-Team All-America honors on the NCAA Outdoor Championships due to a fourth-place end within the 10,000 meters and a sixth-place effort within the 5000 meters.

Tulane completed third on the regional championships final 12 months and return 4 runners from that squad. Blezzin Kimutai ought to lead the Green Wave after she was third finally 12 months’s regional meet and lowered her 5000-meter PR to fifteen:54.12 on the monitor this previous spring.

No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 5 LSU spherical out the top-five groups.

Southeast Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 NC State, No. 2 North Carolina

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 5 South Carolina

Notes: Eight-time defending champion NC State headlines the preseason rankings. The Wolfpack return a number of athletes from that squad, together with particular person champion Grace Hartman and third-place finisher Hannah Gapes. NC State additionally fared effectively in recruiting, touchdown prep standout Sadie Englehardt, Emily Wisniewski, and a number of other influence transfers.

North Carolina is projected to seize the area’s second computerized qualifying spot forward of Virginia, Wake Forest and South Carolina. The Tar Heels might need graduated their top-three runners from final 12 months’s squad, however welcome again each Ciara O’Shea (thirty second in 2024) and Eva Klingbeil (fortieth in 2024), and scored a giant switch in Vera Sjoberg from Boston University.

West Region

Projected AQs: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Stanford

Also within the Hunt: No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Gonzaga, No. 5 Boise State

Notes: Defending champion Oregon sits atop the preseason rankings and justifiably so. The Ducks have a loaded roster with returners Silan Ayyildiz, Mia Barnett, Ali Ince, Anika Thompson, and Ella Thorsett all returning. Throw in newcomers Diana Cherotich, Juliet Cherubet, Bahiya El Arfaoui and Katie Clute, and the outlook is even brighter for the Ducks.

Stanford is taken into account to be Oregon’s prime risk to a regional title. The Cardinal, which is ranked forward of Washington, Gonzaga, and Boise State, welcomes again defending particular person regional champion Amy Bunnage, and All-Region performers Sophia Kennedy and Riley Stewart.