Sophomore Breakout Stars To Watch This NCAA Cross Country Season 2025
Sophomore Breakout Stars To Watch This NCAA Cross Country Season 2025
With the 2025 NCAA Cross Country season underway some, there are several sophomore breakout stars to look out for on the grass across all divisions.
The end of summer means the start of fall is just around the corner, but 2025 cross country season is already underway, which means more storylines, dark horses, comeback stories, and so much more to look forward to.
Whether immediate impacts or late-bloomers last year, we're putting the spotlight on six sophomores who will be ones to watch this cross-country season.
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NCAA Division I
Solomon Kipchoge, Washington State University
Now at Washington State, Solomon Kipchoge, previously at Texas Tech, will be bringing an already strong portfolio into his sophomore year with a new team.
During his time with Texas Tech last fall, Kipchoge opened up his NCAA campaign on a high note, going 14:02.5 for 5-kilometers at the 2024 Lori Fitzgerald Open and was 1-2 at the season opener with former teammate and incoming returner Ernest Cheruiyot, who went 14:05.3.
While he did not race in September of 2024, October was a big month on the grass for NCAA DI, as we saw some of the fastest performances every across the 8-kilometer distance run at different parts of the country, one of those being, as expected, Kipchoge who won the Arturo Barrios Invitational at Texas A&M and led Texas Tech to a team victory over notables including Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Boise State with a stunning 22:01.4, just two weeks after former teammate Ernest Cheryuiot had clocked 22:20.4 at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
During post-season competitions, Kipchoge finished second at the Big 12 Conference Championships in what would be one of the fastest races that the NCAA saw that fall, with Brian Masau of Oklahoma State as the champion and Casey Clinger narrowly behind Kipchoge, with all three men dipping under 22:10. Kipchoge led Texas Tech to a fourth-place finish. At the Mountain Region Championship, he took the spotlight with a major victory to punch his ticket to the D1 Cross Country Championships, finishing ahead of several notable names including Casey Clinger, David Mullarkey, and even the eventual national runner-up, Habtom Samuel.
While we may not have had a chance to see where Kipchoge may have finished at the national championships, he will still be one to look out for this fall donning a new kit with Washington State University.
Pamela Kosgei, University of New Mexico
There is no doubt that Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico will be one of the names that everyone will be chasing this fall, as she has already established herself as one of the top athletes in NCAA history, having notched several accolades and honors to her name across the fall, winter, and spring last year ranging from All-American finishes, NCAA titles, posting All-Time performances, and even qualifying for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Last fall as freshman, Kosgei made immediate noise across the country going 2 for 2 on victories at major competitions: Cowboy Jamboree and then Wisconsin Pre-Nationals, where she demolished Parker Valby's course record of 19:17 with a scorching 18:59.1; the first sub-19 performance the course has ever seen over the 6-kilometer distance.
Carrying that momentum into championship season, Kosgei led not just the competition, but also the New Mexico Lobos to a team title at the 2024 Mountain West Championships over Boise State and was joined by 3 of her teammates in the top 10 finishes. During the Mountain Regional Championships, she once again showed her dominance from early in the season with a 14-second victory over Juliet Cherubet of Texas Tech, clocking 19:30.9 with New Mexico finishing third as a team and finding themselves on the national stage late-November.
The DI National Championships was where we really got to see the titans clash, and for Kosgei and her racing, it was no different as she finished second as the top freshman behind Alabama's Doris Lemngole and around a top-10 lineup that also held several underclassmen within.
There is so much yet so little room to speak about her stellar track season(s) the following months, as it only could be described as Kosgei took it all in stride, taking three individual Mountain West Indoor titles and an All-American finish in the 5000m at the D1 Indoor Championships, a sub-15 effort of 14:52.45 at Bryan Clay Invitational, two more individual titles at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, and rounding that out with the distance double-crown at the NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships in the 5000m and most notably the 10000m, where she set both a new personal best and NCAA #3 All-Time for the event.
Kosgei's track season isn't done quite yet though, as she still has a World Championship debut in the 3,000m steeplechase later this month and will be joined by returning junior, Doris Lemngole. How this will affect her scheduled start to the cross-country season is one thing, but there's no doubt that she will be a key name come nationals at Gans Creek in November.
NCAA Division II
Owen Westerkamp - Grand Valley State University
Owen Westerkamp will have some big shoes to fill following the graduation and departure of most of Grand Valley State's national championship meet lineup from last year which included Caleb Futter, Daniel Lambert, and Scott Spaanstra; with Westerkamp, Koby Fraaza and incoming senior Brock Wooderson the remaining three.
For Westerkamp, he found his place within the Lakers' lineup at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational last October, where he finished as the seventh man while throwing down a near-80 second improvement over 8-kilometers with his 24:09.2 that saw Grand Valley finish 8th behind notables Notre Dame, Northern Arizona, CBU, and just ahead of DII powerhouse Adams State. At the GLIAC Championships, Westerkamp rounded out the Lakers' lineup with his 10th place finish, as the team scored a perfect 15 with their 1-5 finishes. At the Midwest Regional Championships, he finished as the top-freshman in the race in 20th and as expected, punched his ticket to nationals following a huge team victory over Lewis.
A few months into the winter, Westerkamp found his place within the middle-distance events, nearly eclipsing the 4-minute mile barrier several times, going 4:04.xx during his first two indoor meets and then inched his way down to 4:02.73 at GVSU Big Meet in February, punching his ticket to nationals after also a third-place finish in the Mile and first-place finish in the DMR at the GLIAC Indoor Championships. Fast forward to outdoor, as with many others, this could influence his impact for Grand Valley this fall, as he put up huge performances across a range of distance events from a 3:44.85 in the 1500m, 14:35.22 in the 5000m, and 8:49.42 in the 3000m steeplechase, which he took fourth at during the DII Outdoor National Championships.
For a distance program that is historically one of the best in the country in terms of sheer depth and notable developments, guided by Jerry Baltes and many others, Westerkamp could very well end up being the low-stick that leads the Lakers' throughout the fall.
Allison Kuzma - Hillsdale College
Continuing the distance legacy left by Elizabeth Wier (formerly Wamsley), Allison Kuzma quickly found footing on the grass and became a major contributor for the Hillsdale Chargers last fall, coming out of the gate as a key piece in the lineup.
Throughout the fall, Kuzma found her place put up big performances against some of the best athletes and teams in the Midwest. Notably, Kuzma finished 7th at Lucian Rosa Invitational with a team runner-up finish by Hillsdale behind national contenders Winona State. This same race also held two athletes who found their way onto the individual pre-season: Abbi Steiner (Wis. Parkside) and Sophie Taarud (Winona State).
In post-season competition, Kuzma set a 6k personal best of 21:37.7 enroute to a second-place finish in the GMAC Championships right behind teammate Evyn Humphrey. At the DII Midwest Regional Championship where she finished 26th, she had a chance to race against some of the best that DII had to offer including powerhouse teams such as Grand Valley State University, Lewis University, and Cedarville.
Kuzma's jump during late winter and spring was what truly solidified her as one to look out for, boasting personal bests of 16:40.09 in the 5000m and 34:36.69 for the 10,000m from outdoor. Notably, her 34:36.69 performance was from her title winning debut at the GMAC Outdoor Championships, and then later followed that up with a stellar third-placed finish at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships behind now-graduates and DII legends Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge and Brianna Robles.
Kuzma is currently ranked 15th on the FloTrack NCAA Division II Women's Individual Rankings.
NCAA Division III
Chuck Vater, University of Wisconsin La Crosse
For Chuck Vater, he will certainly not just be one of the sophomores to look out for this fall, but someone to look out for over the next few years throughout his collegiate career in the NCAA, having played a major role on the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse's lineup, a program that historically is one of the best programs in Division III with countless team national championship titles between both men and women across all seasons.
On a roster with as much depth and strength as La Crosse's despite the number of athletes, it took some time for Vater to find his place into the top 7, but once he did, he did. He debuted on the grass for the Eagles last September with a 26:50.6 over 8-kilometers and a 23rd place finish alongside 16 of his teammates that finished within the top 25. A month later at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational was where Vater found his spot amongst the best, improving significantly (24:40.3) from his previous performance and played a role in the team's 86-point victory in their respective race.
At the WIAC Championships, Vater ended up finishing 14th, as the top underclassman in the competition, and once again had improved upon his performance from Notre Dame, going 24:32.0. While he did not race the DIII North Regional Championships, he found his way to the DIII National Championships where he would hold the second-best freshman finish in 69th and was a scoring contributor to La Crosse's near 100-point victory over Wartburg.
On the track, Vater carried his momentum from the cross-country season into indoor and outdoor, where he made appearances on both occasions at the DIII national championships, finishing 14th in the 3000m in March and followed that up with a 10th place finish in the 3000m Steeplechase in May. Outside of this, the now sophomore will be coming into this fall having already ran phenomenal personal bests of 8:15.25 (3000m), 14:23.16 (5000m), 29:58.66 (10000m), and 8:54.13 (3000mS).
Kate Tuttle, Williams College
"Immediate impact," might have been an understatement in retrospect when describing the Virginia native who found her way up the east coast to Williams College in Massachusetts, coached by Peter Farwell, that has been long-standing as an NCAA Division III powerhouse with countless conference NESCAC titles, All-Americans, and team podium finishes on the big stage with two national championship titles.
For Tuttle, she quickly found her place within not just Williams' lineup, but also the DIII scene, as she kicked off her first fall in the NCAA with consistent top 4 finishes on five out of six occasions throughout the main season and post-season competitions leading up to the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Throughout these few months prior to Terre Haute, Indiana, she notched a personal best of 20:49.1 over the 6-kilometer distance on the grass.
Once the national championships rolled around, Tuttle notched herself her first All-American title as the top freshman in the competition with a 7th place finish and led the Ephs to third on the team scores. This fall could be different however, as the returner could potentially find herself on the podium with her teammates lifting the national team title in November.
Topping it off during the indoor season, Tuttle had the chance to showcase her range from as low as the 800m up to the 3000m, highlighted with a runner-up finish in the Mile at the NCAA DIII Indoor National Championships clocking a 4:48.89 just behind top returner Haley Schoenegge.
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