The NYU women’s and men’s cross country teams both had historic seasons, winning the NCAA Division III championship and placing fourth, respectively. The women’s championship win in Spartanburg, SC on Nov. 22 was a first in program history, whilst the men’s team equaled their best season finish since 2009.
The women’s team finished with 79 points, fueled by strong performances from all five of its scorers and sitting comfortably ahead of Williams College by 27 points.
“When you look at the national meet predictions, no one had us first and no one really knew what our team was going to look like,” junior Josephine Dziedzic said.
Senior Janie Cooper, juniors Grace Rowley and Dziedzic as well as sophomores Ashlyn Pallotta and Stella Kuttner all finished in the top 40 out of 290 runners, each earning All-American status. Rowley led the way for the Violets, finishing in eighth place. Cooper and Dziedzic finished in 10th place and 11th place, respectively, in one of the rare meets where the team was near full strength.
“We’ve kept so many people from racing because of injuries,” said Dziedzic. “To be able to come together for the first time as a full squad on the national day, and then have the performance we did, it was perfect.”
Despite injuries, the Violets still had winning performances throughout the season and improved as the year went along, much to the credit of the National Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, Tyler Deck Shipley.
In the first pair of meets this year in August, NYU sent runners to the University of Southern California Upstate Eye Opener in Spartanburg, SC and the Vassar Season Starter in Poughkeepsie, NY. Led by Dziedzic’s 10th-place finish, the Violets finished third out of 10 teams in Spartanburg, only finishing behind two Division I teams. In Poughkeepsie, the team took the top spot out of six squads behind sophomore Eliza Dickie’s second-place finish.
“It’s really consistent with people under Tyler’s training that you continue to improve,” Dziedzic said. “And that says a lot about how much time he puts into creating the training plans. I’m so glad that he won that award, and he has so much love for the boys and the girls.”
The Violets carried that momentum throughout the season and into the postseason. Directly before the NCAA Championship, the Violets took first place out of eight teams at the UAA Championship on Saturday, Nov. 1, in Edwardsville, IL. The victory marked just the second UAA title for the program after winning in 2023. Pallotta finished first out of 78 runners, becoming just the second ever NYU athlete to win the UAA Championship outright.
At the NCAA D-III Championship in November, NYU secured its first podium result since 2009 with a fourth-place finish — an accomplishment that felt sweeter after finishing one spot off the podium last season.
“At the end of last year, we were like, ‘maybe we can podium,’” junior Liam Hagerty said. “We were one point off. And coming into this year, that was the goal.”
First-year James Jenkins’ third-place finish in the Vassar Season Starter was just the beginning of the Violets’ rookies’ success.
In the UAA Championships on Nov. 1, in Edwardsville, IL, first-year Theodore Udelson-Nee finished first out of 77 runners, becoming the program’s first individual UAA Champion since 2009. With a passionate support section, Udelson-Nee pulled out the victory by just 0.3 seconds.
“It feels like just as much of a success for the girls when the boys do well,” Dziedzic said. “Watching Theo win UAAs, we were screaming our heads off.”
Hagerty followed close behind in third place, and senior Andrew Taylor finished in fourth. Sophomore Huckleberry Oakes and junior Alex Hrycysyzn rounded out the scoring for the Violets, finishing in eighth and 11th place, respectively. NYU took its second straight UAA Championship, setting up the team well for the national championship.
Udelson-Nee finished in 31st place with Hagerty coming in 32nd place, and senior Jeffrey Chen finished 40th in the championships. Hrycysyzn came up clutch for the Violets — finishing in 44th after a dominant last kilometer in which he passed 17 runners.
“A guy I really want to shout is Alex,” Hagerty said. “He has been a guy I feel like has been so overlooked, and he finally got his moment of glory. Without him, I don’t think we would have podiumed at all.”
After successful seasons, neither team is looking to take its feet off the gas.
“There’s nowhere to go but up,” Hagerty said. “We’re going to do our best to be in the best possible shape when it comes to next year.”
The women hold a similar mentality despite already reaching the pinnacle of D-III cross country.
“Honestly, if anything, it’s more motivating to do better in track and have an amazing track season and then come back and do it again.” Dziedzic said.
Contact Matthew Singh at [email protected].