NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Smith College women's cross country competes at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Wickham Park in Manchester, Conn. The women's 6K, hosted by Trinity College, starts at 11 a.m. The Bears come in after placing third of 12 teams at the NEWMAC Championship. bantamsports.comgosmithbears.com

Smith at NCAA Division III Mideast Regional
Saturday, Nov. 14 | Women's 6K, 11 a.m.
Wickham Park | Manchester, Conn.

LAST YEAR AT REGIONALS

• St. Lawrence hosted the 2025 Mideast Regional on Nov. 15 at the Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country Course in Canton, N.Y.
• Smith placed 11th of 25 scoring teams with 341 points.
• Lucy Kreipke (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) finished 26th in 22:50.5 and earned All-Region honors as a top-35 finisher.
• Kreipke went on to the NCAA Championship as one of 70 individual qualifiers in a field of nearly 300. She placed 231st in 23:52.6.

LAST TIME OUT

• Smith hosted the NEWMAC Championship in Northampton on Oct. 31 and placed third with 84 points. MIT won with 19 and Coast Guard was second with 56. Wellesley was fourth, 21 points behind the Bears.
• Kreipke placed eighth in 23:17.7. Sophomore Avery Grace Maiese (Waterford, CT/Waterford High School) was 12th in 23:27.1. Senior Sofia Jurusz (Wildwood Crest, NJ/Middle Township) was 18th in 23:46.5.
• Kreipke, Maiese and Jurusz each earned All-NEWMAC honors.
• Junior Amie Gronert (Milwaukee, WI/Shorewood) (25th, 24:12.8) and first-year Hadley Smith (North Yarmouth, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) (27th, 24:14.1) completed the scoring five. First-year Violeta Rechea (Melrose, MA/Melrose High School) (45th, 24:59.7) and junior Aranza Torres Encinas (49th, 25:11.7) ran sixth and seventh.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

• Smith opened the season fifth at the Trinity Invitational in Hartford, Conn., on Sept. 12, with 142 points over 5,000 meters.
• The Bears won the Ellen O'Neil Invitational on their home course on Sept. 19 with a perfect 15 points, sweeping the first six places. Kreipke won in 23:27.4, and Maiese was second in 23:46.2.
• Smith placed fifth of 27 teams with 186 points in the Women's Red Championship 6K at the KSC Invitational in Keene, N.H., on Oct. 3. It finished ahead of NEWMAC programs Babson, Wheaton, Springfield and Mount Holyoke.
• At the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 17, Smith was 22nd of 28 scoring teams in the Blue race, which had 259 runners. The Bears finished ahead of NEWMAC rivals Wellesley and WPI. Kreipke placed 40th in 21:47.5, and Jurusz, Maiese, Hadley Smith (North Yarmouth, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) and Catherine Collins (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) completed the scoring five.

WHAT'S ON THE LINE

• The top team from each of the NCAA's 10 regions earns an automatic bid to nationals, and 22 at-large teams are added.
• The first seven individuals from each region who are not on qualifying teams also advance.
• The top 35 finishers in each regional race earn USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
• Host Trinity is ranked 10th in the region.

COMMON GROUND

• Smith has already raced the host this fall. At the Trinity Invitational, Connecticut College won with 42 points, RPI was second with 61 and Trinity third with 77. Smith was fifth with 142.
• Middlebury won the Connecticut College Invitational with 63 points, two ahead of Williams. Williams also won the KSC Invitational with 33 points, and Bowdoin was second with 54.

BEAR BITES

• Kreipke has been Smith's top finisher in all five races this fall.
• Kreipke, Jurusz, Maiese, Gronert and Collins all ran for Smith at last year's regional.
• Hadley Smith (North Yarmouth, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) has scored for the Bears in every race this season. She ran her first collegiate race at the Trinity Invitational and was Smith's No. 2 finisher.
• Maiese has been one of Smith's top three finishers in all five races.
• At NEWMACs, Smith moved up seven spots over the final 2K.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 3 — All-NEWMAC honorees: Kreipke, Maiese and Jurusz.
• 15 — Smith's perfect score at the Ellen O'Neil Invitational.
• 56 seconds — Smith's gap from first to fifth runner at NEWMACs, down from 1:40 at the O'Neil and 1:42 at KSC.
• 35 — All-Region spots available in the race.

UP NEXT

• The NCAA Championship field will be announced Sunday, Nov. 15. Nationals are Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Bill Huyck Championship Cross Country Course in Northfield, Minn.

About Smith Athletics
Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information, log on to GoSmithBears.com and follow the Bears on Facebook and Instagram.