YOUNG AND EAGER, the Stanford men’s cross country team found its footing throughout the 2025 fall season, displaying veteran prestige and a mix of young talent in its second full season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Having spent a majority of the first month of the season in Colorado following a fifth place outing at the USF Invite up the road at Golden Gate Park, the Cardinal saw its first look at the site of this season’s NCAA DI XC Championships, running 14th overall at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo., with Leo Young leading the Cardinal contingency with a 27th place finish.
Stanford geared up for the postseason with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, partaking in the annual Nuttycombe Invite at the Thomas Zimmer Championship XC Course. Leo Young once again led the way for the Cardinal, earning his second of four top team finishes during the season. However, Stanford’s depth secured a 14th place finish overall with James Dargan, Evan Noonan, Byron Grevious and Vincent Recupero finishing in a pack within 10 seconds of each other as the Cardinal earned its final look at some of the top programs in the nation.
Heading out east, Stanford returned to the ACC Championships for the second time, securing a seventh place team finish. Leo Young blistered through the field in the final 4000m, claiming fifth place with a personal-best time of 22:55 in a photo finish between third through ninth in the pack while James Dargan nabbed a career-best time of 23:18.1 to finish 19th and earn All-ACC honors alongside Young after increasing 19 positions throughout the race.
Looking to secure its 32nd consecutive NCAA XC Championships berth, the Cardinal trekked up to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA DI West Regionals. In what was a dogfight until the end, the Cardinal’s 153 team points gave them an outside shot at a possible at-large bid.
With Leo Young slashing through the field in the final 1000m of the men’s 10K championship, the Cardinal junior earned All-West Region honors and a podium placement with by virtue of a third place finish. The Cardinal received help from sophomore James Dargan with his 12th place finish and All-West Region honor as he hung with Young for a majority of the race. Behind Stanford’s top two harriers, the Cardinal received strong outings from fellow sophomore’s Josh Bell and Byron Grevious who placed as the No. 3 and No. 4 harriers for Stanford, respectively.
With Stanford out of the team running, Leo Young claimed an individual berth in the NCAA DI XC Championships by virtue of his third place finish at the West Regional. In his second race of the season at the Gans Creek XC Course, Young navigated a tightly congested field through the entirety of the 10K run placing 72nd overall with his fastest time at the NCAA Championships in his second appearance.
Honors and Achievements
Men’s Team
- 75 consecutive victories over Cal in championship meets (conference, region, NCAA) when both have full teams
- 38 consecutive victories over Cal at conference championships
Coaches
- Ricardo Santos
- J.J. Clark, Franklin P. Johnson Director of T&F/XC
Individuals
- All-ACC
- All-West Region
- 19th overall at ACC Championships
- 12th overall at NCAA West Regionals
- All-ACC
- All-West Region
- 5th overall at ACC Championships
- 3rd place at NCAA West Regionals
- 72nd overall at NCAA Championships