Making their return to the big dance, the Vassar women’s cross-country team raced at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships for their second consecutive year. On Saturday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Indiana, the team ran with the best cross-country teams in the nation. The Brewers placed 20th, beating their regional rivals Middlebury College, Wesleyan University and Connecticut College.
Throughout the fall, Head Coach James McCowan stressed that the road to nationals would not match the route taken last year. Coming up short in the results at big out-of-region competitions like the Paul Short Run and Connecticut College Invitational presented the team with some adversity. However, once the women entered the postseason, they made a quick turn in the right direction.
The team reminded everyone that they were fast, connected and skilled competitors at the Liberty League Championships, where they were crowned back-to-back champions. Led by first-place finisher sophomore Haley Schoenegge, the Brewers ran a strategic race, running away from rival Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with both team and individual titles. Vassar’s top seven finishers Schoenegge, Addie Nyhan ’27, Anna Kaigle ’25, Norah Reade ’27, Cayley Swaim ’27, Noni Pattington ’25 and Ace Helfand ’27 all earned All-League selections. Nyhan shared, “We didn’t come in as the favorites which was different from last year. We were predicted to get third and RPI is a really strong team so beating them was a great confidence booster to go into regionals and have a really great race.”
Two weeks later, the Brewers posted a perfect score at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships. The first through seventh place Vassar sweep was led by freshman Lizzie Lowe who controlled the race from the gun. This was Vassar’s last year as a member of the ECAC—it is safe to say they went out with a bang.
All eyes were on the Brewers at the Mideast Regional Championships. The winner of each regional championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship race, however, the next few finishing teams can also receive a bid based upon performance at regionals and season history. Entering the race, the Brewers were ranked 26th in the nation and sixth in the region. It was an incredibly close race: Three points separated the second to fifth-place finishing teams. Vassar pulled an upset, defeating Middlebury when it mattered the most. The Brewers left regionals with a program best finish of fourth place, four All Region runners—Schoenegge, Reade, Nyhan, Kaigle—and a silver medal for Schoenegge.
After their run at regionals, the women were confident they had done enough this season to clinch a ticket to nationals. The next day, it was announced that the Vassar women’s cross country team would be competing at the Lavern-Gibson Cross Country course in Terre Haute, Indiana at the NCAA National Championships.
After hundreds of miles, tough workouts, wins and losses and lots of hugs, the team achieved their ultimate goal. Now, as national qualifiers, all that was left to do was compete—for each other and the program. Nyhan reflected on the team’s journey, sharing, “Coming into this year, I think there were a lot of expectations of doing that again and wanting to do that again. However, every season is different and you’re never going to replicate one season over again. Last year we really had a strong beginning and middle season. We really created a resume that got us to nationals when we didn’t have the performance we wanted at regionals.” Nyhan emphasized, “This year we didn’t have that same trajectory, we took a little bit longer to build up through the season and figure some stuff out. We were then able to have a really strong performance at regionals which was what allowed us to go to nationals.”
Finally, race day arrived. The snow from days prior had melted and the course was ready to challenge 293 of Division III’s fastest women. The course consisted of rolling hills and opened up with an opening chute that was a one-kilometer-long straight stretch, an unusual feature on a cross-country course. It was a difficult course; however, it was nothing the Brewers could not handle.
Nyhan shared that the team felt slightly nervous entering the race: “There’s a lot of people at nationals and a lot of other competitive teams. We’ve been at races before that have a similar number of people, but not that many people at that level. There’s not another race like it and there’s not really a way you can prepare to experience that kind of a race.” Competitive meets like regionals and certain invitationals create intense atmospheres, but nothing matches the energy, environment and setting of a national championship meet. The best teams in the nation are placed on the same line, elbows bumping against their biggest competitors, ready to give everything they have for six kilometers surrounded by a roaring crowd.
The gun went off at 11 a.m. and the women were off. They started out fast, averaging three minutes and 16 seconds for the first kilometer, placing them in 14th overall. The women made sure to find their teammates early in the race before the swarm of runners could separate them. Halfway through the race, at three kilometers, the women moved up to 13th place and by the end of the race, at six kilometers, the team placed 20th, scoring 512 points. They stayed competitive throughout the entire competition and battled along with beating the best teams in the nation.
The team was ecstatic with the result. Nyhan described their 20th-place finish as “a big milestone.” She exclaimed, “There was definitely a lot of excitement about having the highest performance in program history.” Not only did the team finish 20th, but Schoenegge placed second, earning All-American accolades.
Back on campus, the rest of the team gathered to watch their teammates on the livestream. Ella Sheidley ’26 commented, “Our team’s most important tether is our love for each other. It was really palpable while watching, especially seeing Noni and Ace work together for so much of the race.” She added, “I experienced the dedication and love the team ran with in practice the whole season, so watching them get out there and execute exactly like we prepared to was really moving. I had no doubt that they could do it because I watched what they were capable of firsthand, but to see it come together when it needed to was really exciting.”
It was a season full of success for the Vassar women’s cross-country team. They finished their season as Liberty League champions and National Championship competitors. They collected numerous titles, many awards and entered the record books as the most competitive group of women in Vassar College cross country history. As they display their trophies and ride the high of their season, they must also begin to dust off their track spikes. While the cross-country season is over, the indoor track season is right around the corner.