With one of the most talented classes in program history set to embark on its senior season, the Case Western Reserve University women's cross country team will look to make its return to the NCAA Championship as a team for the first time in four years in 2025.
The Spartans finished ninth in the region and sixth at the University Athletic Association Championship last year, with Lauren Iagnemma, a member of this year's senior class, leading the way. After earning All-UAA First Team acclaim with a sixth-place finish at the meet and All-Region honors with a fourth-place finish, Iagnemma went on to secure All-America honors for the second consecutive season with a 36th-place finish at the NCAA Championship. She became just the third runner in program history to secure multiple All-America cross country honors in a career.
Iagnemma (along with Aidan Nathan on the men's side) extended CWRU's streak to 21 consecutive years with at least one runner representing the University at the NCAA Championships.
Senior Ashley Novak placed 15th at the 2024 NCAA Regionals to earn all-region acclaim for the second time in her career and will be back in 2025 looking to take another step forward. CWRU is set to return the other five finishers from the NCAA Regionals last year, including seniors Arianna Holbrook (61st) and Julia Hluck (80th), and sophomores Becca Liaw (91st), Ciara Ledford (93rd), and Julia Walko (125th).
Five other returners could also make an impact for the Spartans during the upcoming season. Senior Anna Avila was among the team's top-seven runners in five of the six races she competed in last year, including a fourth-place finish among Spartan competitors at the All-Ohio Invitational and a 70th-place finish overall at the UAA Championship. Sophomore Cecilia Postma was among the team's top-seven runners three times last year, and junior Angie Getz placed as high as ninth on the squad last year. Returning to the team after missing all of the 2024 cross country season will be senior Ayla Grabenbauer, who has been among the team's top-six runners in each of her nine career races and was an all-region honoree in the steeplechase during last year's outdoor track & field season. Senior Medha Patria, who competed in the NCAA Championship as a first-year in 2021, is also set to return for CWRU this season.
Supplementing the talented group of returners will be a group of eight incoming first-year runners, including Maya DiPasquale, Aditi Mukundhan, Hanna Nevius, Reid Smith, Francesca Taracila, Kasey Thomas, Halina Tompkins, and Elena Von Handorf.
The Spartans will open their 2025 campaign with the annual Bill Sudeck Invitational at the University Farm in Hunting Valley, Ohio, on August 29, followed by the Alumni Meet on September 13, also at the University Farm. CWRU will then split its squad the following weekend, giving part of the team a preview of the NCAA Championship course at the Pre-National Meet in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on September 20, with the rest of the team competing the previous day at the All-Ohio Classic in Cedarville, Ohio. CWRU will have two additional meets before the start of its championship season, traveling to New Concord, Ohio, for the Daniel Mullen Memorial Invitational and to Oberlin, Ohio, for the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble.
CWRU will begin the final portion of its schedule on November 1 with the top 10 competitors on the team in action at the UAA Championships, hosted by WashU in Edwardsville, Illinois. After the Wooster 5K Twilight Challenge on November 8, the Spartans will send their top-seven runners to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional at Tom Sawyer State Park on November 15, as the team will aim to qualify for the NCAA Championships the following weekend.
Should CWRU qualify, either individually or as a team, the squad will make the trip to the NCAA Championship in Spartanburg the following weekend.
