While most of the attention was on the Chicago Marathon last weekend, just an hour southwest from The Windy City, the biggest NCAA Division II Cross Country competition of the main season was taking place at Lewis University on Saturday: The Lewis Crossover.

Hosted by the 2024 GLVC Champions for both men and women, Lewis University, this meet brings in numerous teams from around the country whether ranked or unranked, and from places as far as Alaska, California, and Florida.

This year was special, as coaches, athletes, and spectators all got to witness breakthroughs and upsets across various points for both the Men's 8k and Women's 6k.

• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division I
• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division II
• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division III

Women's 6000m

Going into Lewis Crossover, it was clear to most that Fort Lewis' Hannah Hartwell was the favorite regardless, reinforced by the fact that Hartwell was ranked first on the College XC Rankings Presented by HOKA following a statement opener back in September at the 32nd Joe I. Vigil Open, where she set a new course record and finished ahead of the 2024 Outdoor 5000m Champion, Tristian Spence of Adams State.

At the end of the day however, rankings are only subjective, and that sentiment was proven as DII #22 Claire Rethman of Walsh University continued the momentum that we saw her gain earlier in the year. She put up a valiant effort to take to the front and nearly snatched the victory in the final moments of the race.

Despite the 1500m speed coming out of the vault, Hartwell just managed to hold off Rethman by a mere .02 seconds to win Lewis Crossover in 20:45.07 over 20:45.09.

On the team side,  Chico State dominated the team score, putting up 100 points to finish ahead of host team Lewis' 140, with 'what will soon be previously unranked' Biola in third with 180.

Despite only lining up one of the two Molina twins this season, Iresh Molina, the Wildcats are looking to be steady strong heading into the post season, as they slotted their five scoring athletes (Iresh Molina, Megan Malloy, Paulina Martins, Sienna Bianchi, Kira Forsberg) within the top-36, with their six and seven (Olivia Beschorner, Jasmine Fletcher) in the top 50.

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See below for how the ranked athletes and teams did at Lewis Crossover

Ranked - Individual Finishes

Ranked - Team Finishes

Men's 8000m

This race was essentially a rematch of the 1-2 finishers from the  Lucian Rosa Invitational just a few weeks ago, with DII #2 Matthew Storer of Colorado Christian going head-to-head once again against DII #15 Ramon Rodriguez of Tiffin. While Storer was the winner back in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Rodriguez managed to turn the tables this time around and took a statement win against the 4th place finisher at the 2024 Cross Country Championships.

In the early stages of the race, there were several men in the lead pack, many of whom were ranked on the current rankings list, but once the latter stages came around on the final loop, it was down to Storer, Rodriguez, and Chico State's Giannini. The final kilometer was when the winner was decided, as Rodriguez managed to separate himself over Storer and crossed the line first in 23:44.15, roughly three seconds ahead of Storer's 23:47.27.

Mario Giannini took third with a 23:51.52 followed by Saginaw Valley's Jack Lobodzinski fourth in 23:58.35 to round out the sub-24 efforts over the 8-kilometer distance.

On the team side, DII #11 Colorado Christian took a dominant victory with 98 points, 99 ahead of DII #14 Saginaw Valley State's 137, with DII #8 Western Washington in third with 153 to round out the top-3.

The Cougars put five of the seven (Matthew Storer, Caleb Hershey, Noah Lambers, Klay Grant, Tyler School) scorers in the top-32, with six and seven (Alexander Vance, Mateo Luna) just behind in 33rd and 34th.

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See below for how the ranked athletes and teams did at Lewis Crossover

Ranked - Individual Finishes

Ranked - Team Finishes

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