Season Review: 2025 Michigan Women's Cross Country
1/8/2026 12:20:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Captains: Penelopea Gordon, Samantha Hastie, Rylee Tolson
Big Ten Championships: 9th of 18 (178 points)
NCAA Great Lakes Regional: 7th of 32 (235)
The University of Michigan women's cross country team ended the 2025 season with 20 Wolverines earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and five posting perfect 4.0 grade-point averages.
Season Highlights
• At the Spartan Invite/B1G Preview on Sept. 12, the first of three regular-season scored meets, U-M finished fifth of 17 (139) with Anjali Hocker Singh placing 13th to come in as the team's lead runner. Her personal-best time of 20:51.3 shaved more than 30 seconds off her previous best.
• Stephanie Bertram was the team's lead runner at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 26, pacing the team to a 23rd-place finish out of 31 teams. Bertram and Hocker Singh had impressive performances, with Bertram improving her personal best by more than 90 seconds (20:26.9) and Hocker Singh improving hers by 20 seconds (20:31.0).
• Hocker Singh returned to the front of the pack at the Nuttycombe Invitational, placing 69th (20:57.7) to lead the team to a 25th-place finish. In the B Race, sophomore Katelyn Watkins led the team's effort with a 10th-place finish and a personal best time of 21:35.6.
• Michigan opened the postseason on Oct. 31 at the Big Ten Championships, finishing ninth of 18 (278). Hocker Singh was the team's lead runner for the second straight scored meet, placing 43rd with a time of 21:01.6. Watkins (21:09.5) and Gabbie Michael (21:12.3) finished 55th and 56th, respectively, and both saw personal-best times.
• U-M placed seventh of 32 (235) at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in its season finale on Nov. 14. Penelopea Gordon was the lead runner for the Maize and Blue for the first time this season, finishing 33rd with a time of 20:51.48.
• Among all fall sports, Michigan had six student-athletes with perfect 4.0 GPAs, including five from the women's cross country team -- Emily Cescon, Leah Hill, Hocker Singh, Brooke Johnston and Watkins.
• Natalie VanOtteren was named Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
• Freshman Caroline Beiting made her collegiate debut, competing in four meets -- including the Big Ten Championships.
Honors and Awards
Emily
Cescon
Leah
Hill
Anjali
Hocker Singh
Brooke
Johnston
Katelyn
Watkins
Academic All-Big Ten
Stephanie Bertram, So., Applied Exercise Science
Emily Cescon, So., Biomedical Engineering
Sophie Cloutier, So., LSA Undeclared
Haley Deighan, Sr., Psychology
Coraline Haggarty, So., LSA Undeclared
Samantha Hastie, Gr., Big Data Analytics I
Leah Hill, Sr., Organizational Studies
Anjali Hocker Singh, So., Biomedical Engineering
Brooke Johnston, Jr., Psychology
Alyna Lewis, Sr., History
Mara Longenecker, Sr., Movement Science
Lisa Luecke, Sr., International Studies and Spanish
Gabbie Michael, Gr., Chemical Biology
Hannah Pricco, Jr., Psychology
Emma Thomas, So., Business Administration
Rylee Tolson, Sr., Anthropology
Emily Tomes, So., LSA Undeclared
Natalie VanOtteren, So., LSA Undeclared
Katelyn Watkins, So., LSA Undeclared
Jadyn Zdanavage, Jr., Philosophy, Politics & Economics
Players Mentioned
