Jane Hedengren’s Silver Was the Real Story of NCAA Cross Country Championships

The BYU freshman nearly unseated the defending champ in one of the gutsiest title races in recent memory.

Published: Nov 22, 2025 6:24 pm

Jessy Carveth

Jessy Carveth

Pro Cyclist, Track Runner, Bachelor of Kinesiology with Nutrition

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Senior News Editor

Fog rolled over the Gans Creek course on Saturday morning, setting the scene for an NCAA championship that hinged on one matchup.

Alabama’s Doris Lemngole arrived as the defending champion and a World Championships finalist. BYU freshman Jane Hedengren showed up with an undefeated collegiate season and the kind of buildup that rarely lands on a 19-year-old.

For most of the women’s race, it looked like Hedengren might actually pull it off.

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She went stride for stride with Lemngole through the early hills, never giving up an inch, and the defending champion was the one glancing over her shoulder more than once. When they blew open the race after halfway and dropped the chase pack entirely, it briefly felt like the freshman had taken control of the biggest day in college running.

But Lemngole handled the moment like someone who has lived through bigger ones (which, in fact, she kind of has).

She tested Hedengren several times with small injections of pace. Hedengren covered each move until the final half mile, when Lemngole put in a final dig that cracked Hedengren, and opened the gap that stuck.

She crossed the line in 18:25.4, claiming her second straight NCAA cross country title, and looked more relieved than triumphant. Hedengren followed in 18:38.9, the first time she has looked human all year.

What made the race impossible to take your eyes off wasn’t just that Lemngole repeated her win from last year. It was the way she had to earn it. A veteran with a World Championships pedigree went all the way to the final straight to put away a freshman who hadn’t even completed a full semester of NCAA racing.

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It’s easy to forget how much weight Hedengren carried into her first NCAA season. Nine national high school records can become a burden if you don’t immediately validate them in college.

Instead of shrinking under that spotlight, she blew up the expectations around her.

The course record she put up at Pre-Nationals told us she was ready for this level, and the way she handled the Big 12 and Mountain Region meets backed it up. Nothing about those wins looked inflated by weak fields or perfect pacing.

By the time she lined up on Saturday, the question wasn’t whether she could hang with the NCAA’s top women, but how long she could push them (the answer ended up being most of the race.)

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NC State restored its footing in the women’s team race, winning its fourth title in five years with 114 points. Hannah Gapes and Grace Hartman delivered top-ten finishes that steadied the lineup and held off BYU by just 16 points. Oregon followed in third with 153.

The men’s race brought its own overdue moment.

New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, twice a runner-up in this race, finally closed out the win he’d been circling for two seasons, breaking away late to take the 10K in 28:33.9. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, stormed the team scoring by putting three runners in the top six and all five inside the top thirty, talk about a powerhouse. The Cowboys walked off with 57 points and the clearest win of the day.