The Case Western Reserve University women's cross country team saw a talented class of first-year runners lead the way, as the team was represented at the NCAA Division III Championships for the sixth time in the last seven years in 2025.
CWRU was led by a pair of first-years, as Francesca Taracila was the top-finishing Spartan in three races during the year, while Halina Tompkins crossed the finish line first among Spartans on four occasions. Taracila got stronger as the season went on and was the first CWRU runner to cross the line at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship, earning an NCAA Championship berth with a ninth-place finish overall at the meet with a career-best time of 22:28.8 in the women's 6K.
Taracila went on to place 74th out of 290 total finishers at the NCAA Division III Championship in Spartanburg, South Carolina the following week. Her time of 22:35.9 was the seventh-fastest among 45 total first-year runners at the meet. It marked the 22nd consecutive season that the Spartans have been represented by at least one men's or women's team member at the NCAA Division III Championship.
In addition to Taracila, Tompkins also claimed all-region honors with a 26th-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship. Also scoring for the Spartans at the meet were seniors Arianna Holbrook (41st) and Ayla Grabenbauer (42nd), along with first-year Reid Smith (46th). CWRU placed sixth out of 37 total teams at the regional championship.
CWRU also placed seventh at the UAA Championship on November 1 behind a 29th-place finish from Tompkins and a 33rd-place finish from Taracila.
The Spartans were featured in all nine United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Great Lakes Region polls during the year, and were ranked as high as fourth in the region over the course of the campaign. CWRU has been ranked in 12 consecutive regional polls dating back to last season.
Other highlights from the season included team wins at both the Daniel Mullen Memorial Invitational on October 4 and the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble on October 18. CWRU placed five runners in the top-10 at the Daniel Mullen Invite, including Taracila (second), first-year Aditi Mukundhan (fourth), sophomore Cecilia Postma (fifth), Smith (sixth), and sophomore Becca Liaw (ninth). Tompkins also led the way at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble with a 10th-place finish and was followed by Taracila (12th), Holbrook (16th), Liaw (21st), and Mukundhan (22nd). Eight of the 12 Spartan runners who competed at Oberlin recorded season-best times, including Tompkins, whose time of 22:17.9 was the fastest by a Spartan in 2025.
The Spartans added a third-place finish out of 11 teams at the Pre-National Meet and opened the season with a 15-50 win over John Carroll at the Bill Sudeck Invitational with each of the top seven finishers in the race coming from CWRU.
In addition to the team's athletic success during the season, eight members of the women's cross country team received UAA Fall All-Academic honors, including Grabenbauer, senior Julia Hluck, senior Lauren Iagnemma, sophomore Ciara Ledford, Liaw, senior Medha Patria, Postma, and sophomore Julia Walko.
The Spartans earned the following individual honors during the 2025 season:
