IT CAME DOWN to the wire in Sacramento, but for a record 13th time, the Stanford women’s cross country program took home the region’s top honor and established itself as the best in the West.
The Cardinal brought home its record 13th West Region title - and fourth in the last five years - with an incredible display of upperclassmen talent. With the return of Amy Bunnage to the Cardinal lineup, Stanford placed three harriers in the top 10 with Bunnage and fellow junior Sophia Kennedy claiming fourth and fifth, respectively. Just behind the Cardinal duo, graduate transfer Mena Scatchard nabbed 10th place for her best overall finish in the Cardinal and White.
Aiding the Cardinal in a tightly contested race to the finish, seniors Riley Stewart and Julia Flynn propelled the Cardinal to the top of the leaderboard claiming 18th and 29th overall, respectively. Stewart’s All-West Region performance saw her improve two spots during the race while Flynn finished within a pack just 13 seconds later to round out the scoring for the Cardinal. In total, Stanford accumulated 66 total points, reclaiming the region title from Oregon by nine points.
It was a season of top-10 finishes for Stanford as the Cardinal showed strong in its first meet of the season up the road at Golden Gate Park. Flynn and Stewart placed inside the top five while freshman Hanne Thomsen made a stellar Cardinal debut finishing sixth overall as the Cardinal took second place as a team in San Francisco.
Having taken the month of September to train in the high altitudes of Colorado, Stanford saw its first look at the Gans Creek XC Course in Columbia, Mo., racing in the annual Gans Creek Classic. With another stellar showing, Stanford claimed the top spot in the Black Invite championship with 53 points headlined by Thomsen’s third place finish. Thomsen was later named the ACC Women’s Freshman and Performer of the Week after her strong outing in Missouri.
Stanford geared up for the postseason just a few weeks later as Sophia Kennedy made her season debut at the Nuttycombe Invite. Having started the season ranked sixth in the USTFCCCA NCAA DI National Cross Country Coaches Poll, the Cardinal solidified itself as one of the best programs in the country with an eighth place finish that included 16 ranked teams at the time.
Kennedy led the way for the Cardinal with her seventh place finish as the Stanford junior increased nine positions throughout the race for her first of three top-10 finishes in 2025. Also making her Cardinal debut, Mena Scatchard ran well serving as the No. 3 runner for Stanford after freshman Hanne Thomsen nabbed the No. 2 slot for Stanford.
With the regular season complete, Stanford headed back out East to Louisville, Ky., taking part in its second Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships. Stanford did well in its second appearance, claiming fourth place overall in one of the best cross country conferences in the nation.
Kennedy paced the Cardinal with her second-consecutive top-10 placement claiming seventh overall to claim All-ACC honors. Following Kennedy, the quartet of Scatchard, Flynn, Stewart and Thomsen finished within a 20 second span as the Cardinal tallied 150 points in its fourth place finish.
Two weeks later, Stanford restaked its claim as the best women’s cross country team in the West, claiming its 13th regional title and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA XC Championships for a 33rd consecutive time, continuing the longest streak in the country.
The return trip to the Gans Creek XC Course saw Stanford race well in dreary conditions. On a rain soaked course, Stanford’s Bunnage and Kennedy earned All-America honors with placements inside the top 35. Scatchard earned a personal-best at the meet with a sub-19:30 finish that was just off the pace of Stanford’s front runners.
In her first NCAA Championship appearance, Hanne Thomsen claimed a personal-best time, running a sub-20 minute 6K for the first time in her career to slot in as Stanford’s No. 4 runner. Riley Stewart served as Stanford’s final scoring harrier finishing just behind Thomsen running a season-best time as the Cardinal took sixth place for a second-consecutive season.
Honors and Achievements
Team
- Sixth at NCAA Championships
- 25th top-6 NCAA team finish
- 33rd consecutive NCAA Championships team appearance, the longest streak in the country
- 38th NCAA team appearance
- 13th West region title
- 65 consecutive victories over Cal in championship meets (conference, region, NCAA) when both have full teams
- 35 consecutive victories over Cal at conference championships
Individuals
- All-American
- All-West Region
- 4th place finish at NCAA West Regionals
- 30th place finish at NCAA Championships
- All-American
- All-West Region
- All-ACC
- 5th place finish at NCAA West Regionals
- 34th place finish at NCAA Championships
- ACC Freshman & Performer of the Week (September 30)
- All-West Region
- 10th place at NCAA West Regionals
- All-West Region