Women’s Cross Country Qualifies for NCAA Championship
11/15/2025 4:00:00 PM | Cross Country
The Tigers host the national championship race at Gans Creek Cross Country Course on Saturday.
The No. 27 Mizzou women's cross country team punched its ticket to the NCAA Cross Country National Championship, competing on its home course on Saturday, November 22, at Gans Creek Cross Country Course, with the women's title race slated for 9:20 a.m.
Mizzou earned its first team berth to the national championship since 2016 after a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Friday. The Tigers secured 141 points behind a pair of All-Midwest Region finishers and a tightly packed scoring group inside the top 50.
"We're extremely excited for our women to officially qualify for the NCAA Championship meet next week," head cross country coach Kyle Levermore said. "This has been circled on our calendar for the last two years, and it feels incredibly rewarding to see the work we've put in translate into an opportunity to compete for a national championship on our home course. It's a huge milestone for our program. I'm grateful for everyone behind the scenes who made this possible, especially coaches Paige Duca and Tanner Anderson. It has truly been a team effort every single day. We're going to enjoy this week at home, recover, and get ready to go again on Saturday."
This marks the Tigers' first team appearance on the national stage in nine years and the first time Mizzou hosts the NCAA Cross Country National Championship in program history. The last Mizzou individual to compete at nationals on the women's side was Karissa Schweizer in 2016 and 2017 – taking home the individual title in 2016.
With their qualification, the Tigers are one of 32 women's programs competing at the NCAA Cross Country National Championship. Automatic bids were awarded to the top two finishers from each of the nine regions with the NCAA selecting 14 additional at-large teams to complete the field.
At the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship on Friday, freshman Monica Wanjiku led the charge once again, crossing in sixth with a time of 20:10.1, marking the program's best individual regional finisher since 2017 and earning an automatic individual qualification to the national championship race. Kobi Walker joined her in collecting All-Midwest Region honors after placing 24th in 21:01.6 during her regional debut.
Junior Suzy Lecoutre added a strong 30th-place finish (21:14.6), while freshman Mirriam Chepkirui impressed in her regional debut by taking 33rd (21:16.1). Senior Rahel Broemmel rounded out the scoring five in 48th (21:39.9) as the Tigers produced their highest Midwest Regional finish since 2016.
NCAA XC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Tickets for the 2025 NCAA XC National Championship race, set for Nov. 22 with the women racing at 9:20 a.m. and the men at 10:10 a.m. at Gans Creek Cross Country Course, are on sale now. General admission tickets are $23, and parking options range from $6-$18.
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Players Mentioned
