Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Associate Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5302
Written By: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu
WAVERLY, Iowa (Nov. 15, 2025)- Following a fifth-place finish at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship, the North Central College women's cross country team traveled to Waverly, Iowa, where they competed in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship at the Max Cross Country Course. The Cardinals came away with 12th place in a field of 30.
Lily Anderson paced the Cardinals as the first finisher for North Central. Anderson finished the race strong and turned in a 50th-place finish with a time of 23:44.1. By the 900m checkpoint, Anderson sat in 105th place before rising up the ranks, jumping to 74th at the 3K checkpoint and to 51st at the 5K mark.
North Central's second finisher of the race was Marissa Magana, who finished the race in 23:58.4 for 64th place. Magana also climbed the leaderboard after being in 100th place at the 900m checkpoint. She jumped 21 spots to 79th at the 3K mark and moved up to 71st place at 5K, finally settling in at 64th by the finish.
Taking 76th place was Brianna Ruiz as North Central's third leading runner with a time of 24:08.8. Ruiz moved up 30 spots throughout the race, placing 106th at the 900m checkpoint. Ruiz incrementally gained ground at each of the following checkpoints, moving up 13, eight, and nine runners for the 76th-place finish.
Molly Sheridan followed shortly after, taking 79th place, clocking in at 24:09.4. Sheridan ran in 100th place at the 900m mark before overtaking others, including an 18-place improvement by the 3K checkpoint, to hold 82nd place. Sheridan got as high as 77th place at the 5K mark before settling in at 79th.
The fifth Cardinal runner to cross the finish line was Yarecci Salmeron, who took 96th with a time of 24:27.3. Salmeron finished the race strong, rising up from 135th place after the first checkpoint and improving her placement after each one.
Camdyn Lawson placed 100th as North Central's sixth runner of the race, clocking in at 24:35.2, followed by Giselle Alcala in 111th place, crossing the finish at 24:49.3.
The Cardinals scored 358 points in their 12th-place finish, while Washington University in St. Louis won the regional championship with 42 points, earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship.
The NCAA will announce at-large bids for teams and individual runners on Sunday, Nov. 16.
