SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Brandeis University women's cross country team lived up to their pre-meet ranking today as the Judges finished in 25^th place at the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The Judges finished with 564 points, within a group of four teams separated by three points in the standings. Wartburg and Colorado College edged the Judges by two with 562 points, while Brandeis finished just ahead of Hope College, who had 565. Brandeis was sixth among New England Schools and among University Athletic Association teams. UAA foe NYU won the title with 79 points, ahead of Williams with 106.

"It was a strong day for us," said third-year head coach Michael Schmidt. "We beat all the teams who we were ranked ahead of and finished very close with some of the top squads in the country. All seven women were competing at their first NCAA Championships, and they ran with poise and confidence. To be competing well and with this energy on a hot day at the end of a good but long season is something we can all be proud of."

Brandeis was paced by graduate student Shae Regan (Littleton, Mass./Littleton), who finished in 84^th place and scored 60 points. As she has been all season, Regan was the most consistent runner on the team, running between 96^th and 87^th place for the entire race before picking up eight spots in the final kilometer to finish the six-kilometer race in 22:42.6. Regan ran a final kilometer split of 3:51.

First-year Mikaela Beeler (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) turned in one of her best performances of the season to finish at the Judges' second scorer in 142^nd place. Beeler ran under 3:50 for each of her first four splits, including 3:42.6 for the fourth kilometer, moving her into the Judges' top spot in 86^th place, six spots ahead of Regan. She was just behind Regan in 93^rd place at the fifth split, but fell back to the back over the final kilometer to finish 142^nd place, scoring 99 points with a time of 23:07.8. Beeler was 18^th among first-year runners at the meet.

Graduate student Kayla DiBenedetto (Andover, Mass./Andover) was the team's third finisher. She ran a consistent race with four of her five splits coming under four minutes. DiBenedetto was in 139^th place through the first two kilometers before falling back into 152^nd over the next split, but she rallied over the final two K to finish in 151^st place with a time of 23:11.7, scoring 106 team points.  

Junior Sadie Harrow (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) ran fourth for the Judges, placing 168^th overall and scoring 119 points with a time of 23:17.6. Harrow had a strong finish, gaining ground after ever split except for the third, going from 210^th place after the first kilometer and going from 179^th to 168^th over the rest of the race.

Senior Ella Warkentine (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) rounded out the top five scorers for the Judges, placing 246^th with a time of 24:06.8, good for 180 points. Warkentine had a fine final kilometer, running 4:06.5 to improve by six places. She gave the Judges a spread of 1:24.3 among their top five scorers.

Senior Katriona Briggs (Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo-Atherton) and first-year Melissa Keenan (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) rounded out the Judges' top seven runners, coming 268^th and 275^th with times of 24:33.7 and 24:52.4, respectively.