The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's cross country teams concluded their 2025 campaign on Saturday morning at the NCAA Division III Championships at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Men's Race
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Sophomore Donovan Crowley narrowly missed out on All-America honors (awarded to the top-40 finishers), placing 42nd out of 291 finishers in a time of 24:44.5 in the men's 8K race. It was the best individual finish by a CWRU men's runner at the NCAA Championship since Sam Merriman placed 11th in 2017. It marked a personal-best time for Crowley and was the first time in his career that Crowley had broken the 25-minute mark in a race.
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Junior Jacob Slater added a top-100 finish, placing 99th overall with a time of 25:18.6.
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Johns Hopkins' Emmanuel Leblond was the top overall finisher with a time of 23:35.0, while Wisconsin-La Crosse won the team title with a score of 82.
Women's Race
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First-year Francesca Taracila was the only Spartan in action in the women's 6K race and placed 74th out of 290 finishers. She crossed the finish line in a time of 22:35.9, the second-best time of her career.
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Taracila was the seventh-fastest first-year runner (out of 45 total) to finish the race.
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Middlebury's Audrey Maclean won the women's race with a time of 20:16.8, while NYU claimed the women's team championship with a score of 79.
Spartan Notes
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Saturday marked the first NCAA Division III Championship appearance for all three runners.
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It was the 22nd-straight season that CWRU has been represented by at least one runner in either the men's or women's race at the NCAA Championship.
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Slater and Crowley became the 14th and 15th Spartans ever to earn an individual qualification to the NCAA Championship field. It is just the third time that two CWRU men have earned individual qualification for the NCAA Championship, and the first time since 1994.
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This was the 10th time a CWRU woman has qualified individually for the NCAA Championship field.
Up Next
Saturday's meet concluded the 2025 cross country season for the Spartans. Several of the cross country team members will compete for the track and field team as well, which will open its campaign at the Spartan Alumni Holiday Classic on Saturday, December 6, at the Veale Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
