2025 Cross Country Season Recap

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The 2025 season marked one of the strongest and most successful on record for the UNC Asheville cross country program, with both teams posting impressive finishes throughout the regular season before making history at the Big South Championships.

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

The Bulldogs opened the 2025 campaign in Cullowhee, North Carolina, at the Duel in the Valley against Western Carolina (Aug. 29). Asheville claimed victories in both races, highlighted by Aneta Kucerová's late surge to win the women's 3k in 10:43 and Jan Málek's kick down the stretch to secure the men's 6k title in 18:56. Málek's performance earned him his first Big South Runner of the Week honor.

Asheville then traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, for the Furman Invitational (Sept. 13). The women finished third and the men placed fifth on the four-mile course. Alison Graf recorded the top Bulldog finish of the meet, placing 20th in the women's race with a time of 23:43. Marika Dickel was named Big South Freshman of the Week after finishing 26th (24:18), the top performance by a Big South female freshman at the meet. Quinn Jacquez led the men with a 24th-place finish in 19:57.

The Bulldogs continued their season at the Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic (Oct. 4), where the women posted a top-10 team finish. Graf led the women with a personal-best time of 17:44 in the 5k, placing 44th overall. The meet marked the first time in program history that Asheville recorded three sub-18-minute performances in a women's 5k. Dickel earned her second honor of the season as Big South Co-Freshman of the Week after finishing 76th in 18:07. Málek paced the men in the 8k, placing 83rd in 25:08 as the Bulldogs finished 29th as a team.

Asheville wrapped up the regular season at the Upstate Invite (Oct. 18), finishing third on the women's side and fifth on the men's side. Isabel Richardson led the women with an eighth-place finish in 18:04, followed closely by Graf in 11th (18:07). Málek led the men, clocking a season-best 24:59 to place 19th. Tadiyos Sloan-Westmoreland and Jacquez followed in 30th (25:18) and 31st (25:24), finishing back-to-back for the Bulldogs.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS

Building on regular-season momentum, both teams delivered standout performances at the Big South Championships on Oct. 31. The women finished runner-up in the 5k with 62 points—the program's highest conference finish since 2004—while the men placed third in the 8k with 87 points. The combined results marked Asheville's highest overall championship finish in 25 years, dating back to 2000.

Graf led the women with a seventh-place finish in 17:52, earning All-Conference First Team honors and becoming the first Bulldog to do so since 2013. Richardson and Kucerová were named to the All-Conference Second Team, marking the first time since 2003 that Asheville had three women earn all-conference recognition.

Málek worked through the field to place ninth in 25:14, securing a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. Yates Hockaday followed in 17th, with Jacquez close behind in 18th. The men's team has now finished in the top three at the Big South Championships for five consecutive seasons.

The Bulldogs concluded the 2025 season at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Nov. 14. The men placed 20th overall, marking their fourth straight top-20 regional finish, while the women's 21st-place showing was the program's best at the regional meet since 2003.

Málek led the men for the fifth time during the season, finishing 112th in 32:13. Jacquez followed in 121st (32:25), with Jonas Roach finishing 128th (32:30). Asheville placed third among Big South teams, trailing Charleston Southern and High Point.

Kucerová led the women with a time of 21:37.4 to finish 103rd overall, with Graf close behind in 104th (21:37.7). Asheville placed second among Big South programs, finishing behind High Point.