Women's Cross Country | 11/20/2025 4:12:00 PM
NCAA Division III Championships Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's cross country team is set to compete at the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships Saturday, November 22, at the Roger Milliken Cross Country Course in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The race begins at 10 a.m. (Central). Converse University (S.C.) is serving as host of the championships.
The Eagles will be represented at the NCAA III Championships by seniors
Lucy Duchac of
Sussex (Hamilton) and
Brooklyn Luebke of
Maribel (Manitowoc Lutheran), juniors
Annika Elliott of
Shorewood (H.S.),
Lily Higgins of
Stevens Point (SPASH) and
Elizabeth Schwartz of
Verona (Middleton) along with sophomore
Becca Immer of
Saint Michael, Minn. (Saint Michael-Albertville) and
Madison Twarling of
Lake Villa, Ill. (Lakes Community).
Sophomore
Julia Zalewski of
Lino Lakes, Minn. (Centennial) and freshman
Milana Pisto of
Schaumburg, Ill. (H.S.) are listed as UWL's alternates.
Luebke and Twarling are competing in their second NCAA Division III Championships after Luebke finished 152nd and Twarling 163rd last season.
Duchac, Elliott, Higgins, Schwartz, Immer, Zalewski and Pisto would be running in their first NCAA III Championship.
UWL is making its 39th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships. The Eagles have recorded 14 top-six finishes in school history, including eight in the top-four. UWL won the national title in 1983 and placed second in 1982. The Eagles placed 13th last season.
The Eagles placed ninth in 2018 as
Sadie Kroll (12th) and
Hannah Beilke (18th) earned NCAA III All-America honors. It marked the first time since 2005 that UWL had a pair of All-America honors when
Julia Rudd placed second and
Kristen Painter 35th.
UWL has 11 individuals in school history finish in the top-10 at the NCAA III Championships. Tori Neubauer captured the individual national title in 1982 and 1983.
Other top-10 finishes include:
Patty Reynolds (fifth) and
Sheri Winter (sixth) in 1985; Winter (fourth) in 1986;
Sara Gilles (ninth) in 1988;
Sarah Bashinski (ninth) in 1996;
Jenny Fielder (eighth) in 1999; Rudd (second) in 2005;
Stephanie Perleberg (seventh) in 2009 and
Laura Mead (10th) in 2014.
UWL earned an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships after winning the NCAA Division III North Regional November 15 in Colfax, Wisconsin. The Eagles finished with 45 team points while Carleton College (Minn.) was second with 71 and UW-Eau Claire third with 123 points. A total of 30 teams competed.
All seven of UWL's runners earned NCAA III All-Region accolades with top 35 finishes, including four in the top 10. Duchac was second overall with a time of 21:48.0 on the 6,000-meter course with Luebke sixth (21:53.4), Elliott seventh (22:05.3) and Immer 10th (22:13.5).
Twarling placed 20th (22:35.5) with Zalewski 21st (22:40.5) and Higgins 25th (22:48.4).
In the 2025 pre-championships poll by the USTFCCCA, UWL is ranked sixth in NCAA Division III. Williams College (Mass.) is ranked first with New York University second, Massachusetts Institute of Technology third and Johns Hopkins University (Md.) fourth.
Head coach
Derek Stanley has led the women's team to eight (2013-14, 2016, 2021-25) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles. UWL placed sixth at the 2016 NCAA Division III Championships, the team's best finish since a fourth-place showing in 2005. The Eagles finished 13th last year.
UWL was 10th in 2023, 15th in 2022 and 11th in 2021 while placing 19th in 2019 and ninth at the 2018 national meet. The Eagles were 12th in 2015, 13th in 2014, 19th in 2013, 25th in 2012 and 17th in 2017.
He has also led the men's squad to 10 (2012-13, 2017-19, 2021-25) WIAC Championships. The Eagles have recorded top-four finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships in seven different seasons under Stanley, including winning last year's national title. UWL was second in 2017 and 2023.
The Eagles placed eighth in 2022, third in 2013, 2014 and 2018 and fourth in 2012. UWL finished ninth in 2015, sixth in 2016 and 10th in 2021.
Stanley was an assistant men's cross country coach and assistant women's and men's track & field coach for the Eagles in 2011-12.
