STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford begins the 2025 cross country season this Friday at the 31st annual USF Invitational held at Hellman Hollow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The meet begins with the women’s six-kilometer at 2 p.m. followed by the men’s eight-kilometer at 3 p.m.
STANFORD AT THE USF INVITE
Stanford returns to the event for the 11th time in the past 15 seasons including its most recent run of five-straight appearances entering this year. During its 10 showings, the Cardinal has produced either an individual or team winner including taking the women’s team and individual win last season.
Rising junior Sophia Kennedy took the top spot on the women’s podium at last season’s outing, earning her first collegiate cross country win in the process with a time of 20:22.2. Stanford took all three podium spots while each of the five scoring runners finished within the top seven overall. The win secured Stanford’s third consecutive double in the individual and team competition and gave the Cardinal women its seventh win in the meet’s history.
On the men’s side, Stanford held strong in pack-like fashion, securing a fifth place finish with 120 points as seven of the eight Cardinal harriers finished within 0.3 seconds of each other, placing 25th through 31st overall. Patrick Koon, Josh Bell and Paul Bergeron - who were all competing in their first collegiate race - took three of the top four team spots for Stanford.
The Cardinal return four members of last season’s NCAA Championship lineup on the men’s side including Stanford’s top team finisher in Lex Young who returns for his junior season. Leo Young, Nolan Topper and Paul Bergeron round out the remaining returners for the Cardinal men from the NCAA Championship squad. The Cardinal has 12 returning harriers from a season ago while welcoming in five new faces to this season’s squad.
The Cardinal women are headlined by the return of five harriers who took sixth-place at last season’s NCAA Championships including the NCAA DI West Region Champion, Amy Bunnage, who is back for her junior campaign. Alongside Bunnage, the Cardinal women return Sophia Kennedy, Riley Stewart, Julia Flynn and Nicola Hogg from the NCAA Championship cohort this fall. 12 runners in total from last season’s cohort return to the course while five newcomers make their way onto The Farm this fall.
IN THE POLLS
Under the direction of the Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, J.J. Clark, and assistant coach Ricardo Santos, the Cardinal men and women rank sixth in the USTFCCCA NCAA DI National Cross Country Coaches Poll.
Having taken second place on the women’s side and third in the men’s races at the 2024 NCAA DI West Regionals, the Cardinal rank first in the West Region in the USTFCCCA Preseason NCAA DI West Region Coaches Poll on the men’s side while the Cardinal women rank second.
Stanford, which took second place in both the men’s and women’s races at last season’s ACC Championships, was chosen to place in third on both sides in the 2025 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.