On Oct. 31, both the men, and the women carried streaks into the narrow confines of Van Courtlandt Park for the 2025 cross country championship. In a fierce battle against the seven other Ivy League institutions, neither were able to break their streaks.
In the 8K event, the men claimed third for the fourth year in a row, scoring 98 points. Like the other three years, the Red was far behind victors Princeton and runner-up Harvard. This year, the Red was narrowly ahead of Yale, while comfortably ahead of everyone else.
“[Third] was what we’d hoped we could get out the day, and we did,” head coach Mike Henderson said.
The Red’s victory over Yale constitutes its first win against the Bulldogs throughout the entire season.
When asked as to why this race was different, Henderson ascribed stronger depth performances and better circumstances to the Red’s triumph over the Bulldogs.
“Our fourth and fifth runners really did what we knew they could,” Henderson said. “[The fourth and fifth runners] had some fluke things in the other races. [In one race], one of them [got tripped], one race and fell [and got] stepped on and had to go to the medical tent. One of them threw up in the middle of the other race.”
For the first time this season, sophomore Griffin Mandirola finished first on the team, ending the race in 10th overall with a 24:42 and earning Second-Team All Ivy honors in the process.
“[Mandirola] really, really ran a mature, poised race,” Henderson said. “He was methodical. I think he really put himself out in a great position and built on that.”
Junior Aryan Abbajaru finished second on the team and 14th overall, with a time of 24:49, also earning Second-Team All Ivy status.
“[Abbajaru made] a huge jump up from last year,” Henderson said. “It was really a culmination of what we’ve been seeing from him all last track season and what he’s been doing all this year … [it’s] really exciting to see his hard work be rewarded.”
Junior Matthew O'Brien, sophomore Peyton Shute and senior Tyler Canaday completed the team’s top five. O’Brien finished 17th with a time of 25:02, Shute scored 23 points, finishing 25th with a time of 25:34 and Canaday scored 29 points, finishing 31st, with a 25:43 time.
Canaday’s time was slower than in previous races.
“It was just a tough day for him,” Henderson said. “He went out really aggressively, and I think he paid for it in those backhills early. And then it just became about surviving and protecting his place rather than being able to run his race.”
Rounding out the scorers were sophomore Douglas Antaky and freshman Griffin Cords. Antaky scored 45 points for the red, finished 50th and ran a 26:01. Cords scored 47 points, finished 52nd and ran a 26:07.
Sometimes in a competitive race, teams may choose to employ their back-end runners as “rabbits,” setting the pace for their fastest runners. However, Miles Hogan’s dominating performance rendered this unnecessary.
“Miles Hogan from Princeton ran one of the most impressive races I’ve seen in a long time,” Henderson said. “He set [the] course record. He just dominated. He … set the pace for [everyone].”
The women finished sixth in the 6k — the seventh time in a row they’ve failed to achieve any place higher.
Despite the disappointment, there is a silver lining for the women: they were only 12 points off third and scored 115 points, their best tally in six years. Furthermore, they dispatched Brown and Dartmouth by wide margins.
“Two years ago, [the women] were 100 points from third,” Henderson said. “And so now to be [within] 12 points, it shows it’s there. They really did a lot of good things in that race, the way they executed, the way they battled.”
Henderson said that the women were more confident than in previous years, accounting for the much-improved performance.
“They were just so much more confident and comfortable racing this year than they were in other years,” Henderson said. “I think they really have a great culture and chemistry, and so they’re really running for each other and they’re running for the team.”
Senior Mairead Clas crossed the line first for the women, placing seventh overall with a time of 21:17, earning First Team All-Ivy Honors. Clas is the first woman to do this since Rebecca Hasser ’22, who finished seventh at the 2021 iteration of the Ivy League Championship.
“She ran a really gutsy race,” Henderson said. “She just put herself in the position she needed to be and then never backed down.”
Henderson believes her valiant efforts perfectly describe the type of person Clas represents.
“I can't say enough good things about what she’s done as a senior leader for the team,” Henderson said. “It’s just been really fun to see her journey and her steady progression.”
After Clas, junior Masie McManus was the next runner to finish for the Red. McManus ran a 21:53, good for 19th place.
The next two Red runners were both freshmen: Evelyn Prodoehl and Kinga Czajkowska. Prodoehl ran a 22:03, scored 27 points and finished in 29th; Czajkowska ran a 22:09, scored 30 points and finished 32nd.
Henderson is extremely excited to see the fruits that these two will bear in the future
“[Prodoehl and Czajkowska] are really, really fun and exciting to have as part of the program,” Henderson said. “I think they’ve really started developing and they’re starting to understand how much upside they have.”
In hot pursuit of the freshmen phenoms, sophomore Hannah Kersten finished just behind them with a time of 22:15, good for 32 points and 34th place.
The final two scorers were also sophomores. Fiona Lee finished in 22:29, scoring 41 points and placing 44th. Tenley Nelson wasn’t too far behind in 49th, running a 22:36 and scoring 46 points.
Unlike the men’s race, coach Henderson chose to deploy some of the women to pace the faster runners. He selected seniors Katja Jackson and Madeline Nason.
“[Jackson] was the main one,” Henderson said. “She really did a good job of helping that group of [McManus] and [Czajkowska] and [Prodoehl] and [Fiona] and all of them kind of find where they were supposed to be… The other one who helped was… [Nason].”
Henderson lauded the rabbits for their selfless attitude.
“[Jackson and Nason were] two seniors that really embraced, ‘hey, we’re going to help the team and really make it happen,’” Henderson said.
Nason ended the race in 55th, while Jackson finished in 87th.
With strong performances to be proud of, the Red men and women look forward to an even more daunting task: regionals. There, they will face Ivy-League opponents Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown, in addition to teams like Syracuse University and Boston College.
To earn a spot at nationals, a team must either place top two in their regional race or earn a spot via wild card. Individual runners qualify from regionals as well.
The men haven’t qualified as a team since 1992, but have had recent individual representation in Derek Amicon ’25, who ran at the 2024 iteration of the National Championship, placing 48th.
Despite bleak performances in the Ivy League Championship, the women have qualified as a team as recently as 2019, when they finished 29th out of 31 teams. No runner has represented the Red at nationals since.
The Northeast Regionals race will be held in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on Nov. 14. The start time is listed at 11 a.m.
