NYU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are heading into the fall season with high expectations, as both look to build off of successful campaigns in last year’s NCAA Division III Championships. The women’s side enters the season ranked fourth in the country, while the men’s side sits at 12th.
In 2024, the men’s team placed fifth at the NCAA national championships, ending the season just one point shy of a podium finish. The team still claimed both the NCAA D-III Niagara Region Cross Country Championships and the UAA championship, and began its conference title defense on Aug. 29 with a first-place finish at the Vassar Season Starter and third place at the USC Upstate Eye Opener.
The women’s team finished in fourth place at last year’s NCAA national championships — combined with the men’s team’s performance, NYU was the tournament’s top performer. The women’s team also clinched the Niagara Region championship and finished runner-up in the UAA championship.
In the offseason, NYU hired alum Nic Jacobsen to become the associate head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams. After coaching stints with the University of Notre Dame, the University of Tennessee and Southern Methodist University, Jacobsen joins head coach Tyler Deck Shipley’s staff with hopes of developing the program further.
“I am thrilled to be back at NYU after several years in the Division I space,” Jacobsen said. “Being a part of my alma mater and a program that I am very passionate about means quite a lot to me. My hope is that we can have one of the best training groups in the country here, regardless of division — and a place where kids can truly come to develop and have a great experience over four years.”
Senior Lucy Gott has both the 2023 and 2024 NCAA championships on her mind, after second and fourth place finishes squashed NYU’s shot at the national championship.
“Two years ago, we got second at nationals just a few points behind a team we weren’t expecting, and that really stung,” Gott said. “Last year we had ups and downs … but we were proud of where we finished. This year our goal is to have fun, enjoy the process and hopefully all have our best day out on the nationals course in November.”
The men’s team looks to avenge its fifth place finish from last year’s tournament. Like Gott, sophomore Jacob Christy has similar hopes for the men’s run this season.
“Last year, we were one point away from accomplishing our goal of making the podium at the national meet,” Christy said. “We have a chip on our shoulder going into this season where we are once again aiming for the podium.”
The men’s side added a total of eight new runners, including seven first-years and one graduate transfer. Among the newcomers, highly touted recruit Theodore Udelson-Nee is expected to be a strong addition to the team, according to Jacobsen. He has impressed his coaches early, especially with his performance at the August USC meet, where he placed 30th out of 127 in the 8K.
Alongside championship goals, NYU looks to continue to foster a positive team culture, something Gott considers critical to sustained success.
“The team culture on the girl’s team is probably the best I have ever seen,” Gott said. “We are training more than we ever [have], are extremely fit all around and are also such a tight-knit group of friends.”
The men’s and women’s teams competed at the Jasper Fall XC Invitational on Saturday, finishing ninth out of 16 and eighth out of 15, respectively. Senior Shaurya Srivastava was NYU’s top performer on the men’s side, finishing 21st out of 179 runners in the 8K. On the women’s side, sophomore Lindsay Guthrie stood out, finishing 39th out of 177 in the 6K.
Both teams will next compete at the Paul Short Invite at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA on Oct. 3 and look to continue their early-season success.
“The goal for this year is to perform at our very best at the conference and national championships, continue to develop the underclassmen and freshmen and develop championship habits that can be embedded into the program for years to come,” Jacobsen said.
Contact Naseem Rahman at [email protected].