MARLBOROUGH, Mass – After winning their 18^th-straight NEWMAC title at the 2025 NEWMAC Women's Cross Country Championships, the MIT coaching staff earned the honor of 2025 NEWMAC Women's Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year. The Engineers, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, boasted five of the top seven individual finishers as well as seven of the top 10 for a total of 24 points. The MIT coaching staff is led by Riley Macon, along with director Julie Heyde, and assistants Whitney Macon, Christina Crow, Ziyad Hassan, and Ned Farrington.

United States Coast Guard Academy senior Claire Semerod (Centennial, Colo.) placed first overall to earn NEWMAC Runner of the Year honors. She captured the individual title with a time of 21:26.6 to win the race by nearly 12 seconds. Springfield College senior Kristina Kyle (Watertown, Conn.) was named the NEWMAC Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year after placing 14th with a time of 22:53.8 in her first year of collegiate competition in the sport. 
 
MIT graduate student Gillian Roeder (Delmar, N.Y.) was named the Laurels of Academic Excellence recipient, which is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the championship site. The graduate student had an undergraduate GPA of 4.0 and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Roeder is currently a graduate student at MIT, pursuing a Master's in Mechanical Engineering.

In addition, the top 19 finishers at the NEWMAC Championship earned All-Conference honors.

NEWMAC All-Conference Team

1. Claire Semerod (Sr., Centennial, Colo.) - Coast Guard - 21:26.6
2. Kate Sanderson (Sr., West Hartford, Conn.) - MIT - 21:38.2
3. Yasmin Defne Dadikhi (Sr., Istanbul, Turkiye) - Emerson - 25:13.4
4. Rujuta Sane (Sr., Chandler, Ariz.) - MIT - 21:58.4
5. Liv Girand (Jr., New York, N.Y..) - MIT - 22:08.6
6. Lexi Fernandez (Sr., Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) - MIT - 22:13.4
7. Gillian Roeder (Gr., Delmar, N.Y.) - MIT - 22:15.0
8. Emily Brydges (Sr., Suffield, Conn.) - Wellesley - 22:32.7
9. Jessica Meza (Jr., Columbus, Ind.) - MIT - 22:35.2
10. Ava Hartman (So., New Orleans, La.) - MIT - 22:45.6
11. Lauren Mellon (Sr., Falls Church, Va.) - Coast Guard - 22:51.1
12. Anna Weygang (Jr., Farmington, Conn.) - Salve Regina - 26:10.7
13. Lucy Kreipke (Jr., Princeton, N.J.) - Smith - 22:53.1
14. Kristina Kyle (Sr., Watertown, Conn.) - Springfield - 22:53.8
15. Isabella Hastings (Jr., Grantham, N.H.) - Salve Regina - 22:55.3
16. Jaz Vanderhoof (Sr., Portland, Maine) - Wheaton - 23:08.3
17. Erin Hovendon (Sr., Laurel Park, N.C.) - MIT - 23:08.9
18. Megan Diulus (Jr., Akron, Ohio) - MIT - 23:09.3
19. Brooke Hunter (So., Phillipsburg, N.J.) - Coast Guard - 23:11.1

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.