WALTHAM, Mass. -- Brandeis University cross country coach Michael Schmidt has been named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches of America (USTFCCCA) East Region Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for 2025, the organization announced yesterday.

Schmidt led the Judges to a third-place finish at the East Regional championships at Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on Nov. 15, a six-place improvement from a year earlier and behind only top-15 teams MIT and Tufts. The Judges earned their first NCAA Division III Championship berth since 2021 and the seventh in program history. Brandeis finished 25th at the national meet on Nov. 23. 

Schmidt is the first Brandeis coach to earn USTFCCCA East Region Coach of the Year honors, with the region having been established in 2022. Prior to that, the Judges competed in the New England region. No Brandeis coach had been honored by the USFTCCCA as New England Cross Country Coach of the Year since at least 2004, according to the organization's records. 

For more information on Brandeis women's cross country, visit their home page at https://brandeisjudges.com/sports/wcross. 

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