Equipped with a strong crop of returning athletes, the Drew University cross country teams will take to the course with high expectations under fifth-year Head Coach Sean Robinson.
 
The women's team returns eight runners from last season's squad, including senior Kate Rice, who turned in a tremendous 2024 season. The team's No. 1 runner in all six of her races, she posted four, top-five finishes and ran the fastest time in program history for both 6K (22:19) and 5K (18:25).
 
Junior Sarah Hattan also returns after finishing first or second on the team in seven of her eight races last season while posting a season-best 6K time of 24:14. She was also the team's No. 1 finisher at both of the team's championship meets – the Landmark Conference Championships and the NCAA Division III Metro Region Championships.
 
Sophomore April Kusnier is also back after finishing in the team's top-four in each of her eight races in 2024. She placed as high as second among the Rangers in a pair of races, including the Landmark Conference Championships, and recorded a season-best time of 24:59.
 
Junior Skyler McGuire returns after placing third on the team in each of her three races while posting a season-best time of 26:04. Senior Annelise Wade is also back after breaking the team's top-five in three of her five races while clocking a PR of 25:35.
 
Also returning are sophomores Isabella Fortunato, Bella Polizzi, and Deborah Wang. Fortunato competed in seven races and was a top-five runner four times, posting a season-best time of 26:05. Wang raced seven times and recorded a PR of 26:45 while Polizzi competed in six races, logging a season-best of 27:38.
 
Three additional Rangers will provide additional depth this season. Senior Emily Camlet will compete in her first season of cross country after establishing herself as a tremendous competitor for Drew's track & field team over the program's first two years of varsity competition. She is a three-time Landmark Conference 400-meter dash champion and qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in the same event last season.
 
Also a member of the track & field team as a distance competitor, sophomore Perri Rubin will join the cross country team this year along with junior Sophia Kim.
 
On the men's side, the Rangers bring back four runners and will be bolstered by a freshman class of six.
 
Leading the way as returners are Dylan Crain, junior Tommy Edwards, and sophomores Matt Ellis and Eliot Vishnevsky. Edwards owns the fastest 8K time of any current Ranger after clocking a 27:34 at the Landmark Conference Championships last season. He was one of Drew's top-three runners in every race last season and was the squad's No. 2 runner on four occasions, including both championship meets.
 
Like Edwards, Ellis was a top-three finisher for the Rangers in every race last season and dropped a PR of 27:45 at the conference meet. He was the team's No. 1 runner in each of his first two career races at the Misericordia and Lebanon Valley Invitationals.
 
The team's lone senior and most experienced runner, Crain finished among the team's top-five runners in every meet a year ago and posted a career-best time of 28:21. He finished as high as second on the team at the Lebanon Valley Invitational.
 
Vishnevsky competed in all seven races in 2024 while breaking the team's top-five once. He ran a season-best of 30:30.
 
Drew's first-year class will consist of Fred Grote, Erick Hernandez, Luke Krafton, Patrick Robinson, Chris Tocci, and Matt Vargas.

Drew runs in its season opener on Friday at the NJIT Invitational. The Rangers will then compete in a home invitational for the first time in recent memory when it holds the Ranger Invitational on Sept. 5 at Oak Ridge Park in Clark, N.J. Following four additional races, Drew will also host the Landmark Conference Championships back at Oak Ridge Park on Nov. 1. The Rangers then close out the season with the NCAA Division III Metro Region Championships on Nov. 15 at Lehigh University's Goodman Campus.