COLUMBIA, Mo. — Highlighted by two Top-40 placements, Stanford cross country wrapped up the 2025 campaign on Saturday, claiming sixth place in the NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Championship, hosted by the University of Missouri at Gans Creek XC Course.
The Cardinal, which accumulated 268 points, claimed sixth overall following New Mexico and Florida who took fourth and fifth, respectively. Fellow Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opposition NC State took the win with 114 points followed by BYU and Oregon who slotted second and third. On the men’s side, Stanford’s lone individual in Leo Young finished 72nd overall.
Leading the charge for Stanford, Amy Bunnage secured her second All-America honor, pacing the Cardinal leaderboard with a time of 19:15.0, marking her fastest time in any NCAA Regional or Championship in her career. Bunnage placed inside the top-30 through the first 4000m of Saturday’s race, running sub-3:22 in each of her first 1K splits before holding steady in the remainder of the race, battling into 30th and scoring 25 points for Stanford.
Following Bunnage, Sophia Kennedy also claimed her second All-America honor in cross country, placing 34th overall with a personal-best time of 19:16.7. Kennedy held strong inside the top-40 the entirety of the race, pacing in the middle of a pack of 11 harriers that finished within five seconds of each other.
Following the two front Cardinal, Mena Scatchard also ran a career-best on Saturday, smashing her previous time of 19:50.3 set at the West Regionals last week by 22 seconds. Scatchard maneuvered through the field in the final 4000m, increasing 36 positions through the race to claim 44th overall and 39 points for the Cardinal.
Hanne Thomsen and Riley Stewart rounded out the scoring for the Cardinal on Saturday with Thomsen running a personal-best 19:57.6 which placed her 102nd overall and just in front of Stewart who went 19:59.1 and placed 107th. Thomsen held steady on familiar ground, running nearly 16 seconds faster than her previous time at Gans Creek - in a race in which she finished third overall - ending her freshman campaign as the fourth scoring harrier for Stanford in her National Championship debut.
Stewart, however, held strong as well, sprinting the 1000m to increase nine slots and grab a time of 19:59.1, which broke her season-best time of 20:13.5 set at West Regionals last week.
Placing as the reserve scores for the Cardinal, Julia Flynn and Juliette Whittaker finished sixth and seventh, respectively, for Stanford. Flynn held strong throughout the race, placing 180th in a congested field with a time of 20:26.4 while Whittaker finished her Stanford cross country career with a time of 21:12.5.
In the men’s 10K Championship, Leo Young held strong in one of the fastest and most-compact fields to date, placing 72nd as Stanford’s entry with a time of 29:27.0. Young navigated the pack in his race, only dropping four spots overall from the 1K mark to the finish en route to nearly setting a season-best time. Young finishes the 2025 season with three top-five finishes in his junior campaign.
NCAA XC DI Championships
At Gans Creek XC Course (Columbia, Mo.)
Women (6K, 3.73 miles)
Team leaders - 1, NC State 114; 2, BYU 130; 3, Oregon 153; 6, Stanford 268
Individuals - 1, Doris Lemngole (Alabama) 18:25.4; 30, Amy Bunnage (Stanford) 19:15.0; 34, Sophia Kennedy (Stanford) 19:16.7; 44, Mena Scatchard (Stanford) 19:28.2; 102, Hanne Thomsen (Stanford) 19:57.6; 107, Riley Stewart 19:59.1; 180, Julia Flynn (Stanford) 20:26.4; 241, Juliette Whittaker (Stanford) 21:12.5
Men (10K, 6.2 miles)
Team leaders – 1, Oklahoma State 57; 2, New Mexico 82; 3, Iowa State 158
Individuals – 1, Habtom Samuel (New Mexico) 28:33.9; 2, Rocky Hansen (Wake Forest) 28:38.0; 3, Solomon Kipchoge (Washington State) 28:40.1; 72, Leo Young (Stanford) 29:27.0