SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The No. 17 men's cross country team will represent Washington and Lee University on the national stage tomorrow.
The championships will be held Saturday, November 22, at the Roger Milliken Cross Country Course at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The men's race begins at 10 a.m. Eastern, followed by the women's race at 11 a.m. Eastern. Live coverage will stream on NCAA.com from 10 a.m. through the awards ceremony.
PATH TO QUALIFICATION
The No. 17 Washington and Lee men's cross country team earned one of the NCAA's automatic bids after winning the 2025 NCAA South Regional Championship—the program's second regional title all-time and first since 1995.
W&L scored 39 points with a historic performance that saw five runners place inside the top 15 and six inside the top 35, tying the program's single-meet All-Region record. Junior Robert Cooper led the Generals with a third-place finish in 24:33.3, the team's best regional result since 2016. Senior Keaton Rush (4th, 24:34.8) and sophomore Sam Daunt (5th, 24:35.6) delivered a sweep of places 3–5 that separated W&L from the field early.
Sophomore William Dunaway (12th) and junior Thomas Franklin (15th) closed out the scoring five with a 38-second spread, the tightest front-pack compression in the region. Junior Jackson Kodenski (21st) and sophomore Raja Mehendale (49th) completed the lineup, with six Generals earning All-Region recognition.
The regional title returns W&L to the NCAA Championships for the seventh time in program history and the third straight season. W&L placed 21st at the 2024 NCAA Championships, the best finish in the modern expanded field, led by Cooper's 51st-place run (24:53.0).
PROJECTED LINEUP
W&L 2025 SEASON RESULTS
- Aug. 29 – Eye Opener (Spartanburg, S.C.) – 7th of 20 (224 points)
- Sep. 5 – Virginia Tech Invitational (Blacksburg, Va.) – 3rd of 10 (96 points)
- Sep. 20 – NCAA DIII National Preview (Spartanburg, S.C.) – 3rd of 25 (82 points)
- Sep. 27 – Hornet Harrier (Winchester, Va.) – 1st of 8 (15 points)
- Oct. 3 – Paul Short Invitational (Bethlehem, Pa.) – 4th of 42 (238 points)
- Oct. 10 – Royals Cross Country Challenge (Charlotte, N.C.) – 5th of 30 (135 points)
- Oct. 18 – Roanoke South Region Showdown (Salem, Va.) – 3rd of 16 (100 points)
- Nov. 1 – ODAC Championships (Bridgewater, Va.) – 1st of 10 (27 points: 1–2–5–8–11)
- Nov. 15 – South Region Championships (Salem, Va.) – 1st of 24 (39 points: 3–4–5–12–15)
National Landscape — Women's Championship Field
Defending national champion UW–La Crosse is the unanimous No. 1 after winning the North Region with 30 points and placing all seven runners inside the top 18. The Eagles return their full scoring core from last year's title run and enter Saturday as the team to beat.
Wartburg holds the No. 2 ranking following a dominant Midwest Region victory led by conference champion Isaiah Hammerand. The Knights are the only team to challenge La Crosse this season, finishing 12 points behind the Eagles at the Augustana Interregional — the closest margin anyone has managed.
Johns Hopkins, the Mid-Atlantic champion, sits next after scoring 24 points with seven runners in the top nine. The Blue Jays showcased significant depth even without individual title favorite Emmanuel Leblond in the lineup. SUNY Geneseo and NYU round out the top five, separated by contrasting strengths: Geneseo's front-end punch versus NYU's narrow 1–5 compression.
The teams positioned just outside the top tier — RPI, MIT, Tufts, UChicago, and Williams — add further depth to a national field with multiple potential top-10 finishers. Against this backdrop, Washington and Lee enters the meet following its second regional championship in program history and returns a veteran lineup capable of competing within this tightly packed national field.
CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
- Location: Roger Milliken Cross Country Course, Spartanburg, S.C.
- Date: Saturday, November 22
- Race Times: Men – 10 a.m. EST | Women – 11 a.m. EST
- Broadcast: Live on NCAA.com
- Live Results: Leone Timing
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
