Once again, the Colorado College cross country teams enter the 2025 season looking down from the top of the mountain after sweeping the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles for the fourth consecutive year in 2024. The 2025 season gets underway on Saturday, Sept. 6, at the UCCS Rust Buster Meet in North Monument Valley Park.
 
The men's team won an unprecedented sixth consecutive SCAC title at the league's championship meet, while the CC women won for the fourth straight time..
 
Alex Nichols, the five- time reigning SCAC Men's Coach of the Year and four-time Women's Coach of the Year, is reloading
 
Despite the graduation of 2024 All-Americans Isabel Olson and Sydney Rankin, the expectations for the women's team are as high as ever, and a No. 24 national ranking in the Division III preseason poll speaks to that after placing 10^th at the 2024 Division III Championship Meet. CC claimed nine of the top 14 spots at the SCAC Meet last year, with five of them returning in '25.
 
Senior Alison Mueller-Hickler returns after finishing third to Rankin and Olson at the SCAC Meet last year. Junior Charlie Flint placed fifth, while seniors Brooktie Frogge, Abby Goodfried and Liz White placed eighth, 10^th and 13^th, respectively.
 
"The 2024 season was a huge success," Nichols said. "Following up a season like that is always going to be a challenge, especially with some key seniors graduating last spring, but this year's team is ready to establish their own success. We have a strong group of first-year runners who could make an impact in the top seven right away. Sadie Honig, Ellie Ottem, and Asher Luengas have been training well together and will be ready to step up to fill some gaps. Continued success at the national level is well within reach for this team."
 
The men's program, looking for its seventh straight conference championship, is ranked No. 23 in the preseason national poll entering the '25 campaign.
 
Junior Will Shuflit returns after a stellar sophomore campaign that saw him win the SCAC individual title with a time of 24:43.4, the second-fastest time in SCAC Championship Meet history. He followed that performance with a fifth-place finish at the West Region Meet and a 30^th-place result at the NCAA Division III Championships, earning All-America status.
 
Shuflit led eight Tiger runners in the top 14 at the SCAC Meet last season, and they all return in 2025. Senior Axel Klomaprens and sophomore Vincent Mangat finished third and fourth, respectively, while senior Rabbit Barnes (7^th) and sophomore Diego Escalante (9^th) each posted a top 10 result.
 
Seniors Huck Whittemore, Luc Santos and Felix Battle are also back after receiving all-SCAC honors a year ago.
 
"After narrowly missing out on a national championship qualifying spot last year, the men's team is really motivated this season," Nichols said. "With our top seven returning from last year I expect this team to be one of the best in program history. Our first-year runners, Aric Accetta, Lincoln Brewer, Zach McNaul, Will Lennert, and Silas Whiteson, have put in a lot of work over the summer to make the transition to the college level. They have already shown in practice that they are ready to make a difference on the team."
 
The Tigers will host the annual Ted Castaneda Classic on Saturday, Sept. 27.