NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University women's cross country team turned in a gutsy group effort on Sunday afternoon, finishing fourth overall at the 2025 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Cross Country Championship on their home course.
Led by a trio of All-Conference performers, the Cadets matched last year's finish with a 68-point tally, tying Saint Joseph's College of Maine but placing fourth on a head-to-head tiebreaker. Emmanuel College claimed the team title with 55 points, narrowly outpacing five-time defending champion Colby-Sawyer College (59 points).
Saint Joseph's (68), Norwich (68), and Simmons University (125) rounded out the top five in the nine-team scoring field, which also included New England College, Regis College, Dean College, and Mitchell College. Lasell University and Elms College also saw runners participate.
Sophomore
Delaney Whitmarsh (North Yarmouth, Maine) led the charge for the Maroon & Gold, placing 11th overall in 25:17.0 to earn her second-straight GNAC All-Conference honor, this time on the Second Team. A pair of freshman runners inÂ
Ally Teitsch (Malta, N.Y.) and
Heidi Edwards (Crestview, Fla.) finished 12th and 13th in 25:17.3 and 25:25.8, respectively, to also claim Second Team accolades, the first career All-Conference nods for both.
Norwich's scoring five was rounded out by freshman
Kaitlyn Moore (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), who clocked a 25:34.1 to place 15th, just one spot shy of an All-Conference finish, and junior
Joelle Moore (Swanton, Ohio), who crossed in 26:14.6 for 22nd overall.
Cece Winters (Waco, Texas), the 2023 GNAC Rookie of the Year, placed 23rd in 26:17.1, while
Ellery Shertzer (Conowingo, Md.) rounded out Norwich's top seven runners in 27th on 26:53.7.
Colby-Sawyer's Adriana Nadeau claimed her second individual crown and GNAC Runner of the Year honor with a winning time of 24:05.4. Saint Joseph's Amber Pendleton was named GNAC Rookie of the Year as the top-finishing first-year, placing sixth overall on 24:53.5.
Sunday's championship was once again started by the ceremonial firing of a M116 75mm pack Howitzer by the Norwich Artillery Battery, with
Joe Barch '82, a member of the 1982 Hall of Fame cross country team, serving as the official race starter.
WOMEN'S LEADERS:
The Cadets now turn their focus to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship, hosted by St. Lawrence University on Saturday, Nov. 15, in Canton, N.Y.
2025 GNAC Women's Cross Country Championship Final Results
1. Emmanuel (Mass.) - 55
2. Colby-Sawyer - 59
3. Saint Joseph's (Maine) - 68
4. Norwich - 68
5. Simmons - 125
6. New England College - 172
7. Regis (Mass.) - 200
8. Dean - 249
9. Mitchell - 265
INC. - Lasell, Elms
