BOSTON, Mass. (October 14, 2025) – Emerson College All-Region senior Yasmin Defne Dadikhi has been named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, presented by SKYBOKX 109, for the second time this season, the NEWMAC announced today.
Defne Dadikhi earns Runner of the Week honors for the third time in her career after running to her second event title of the fall with her first-place finish at the Hopkinton Cross Country Festival in New Hampshire on Friday. She ran up front the entire five-kilometer race and paced the field in a school-record time of 18:13.62, finishing nearly two minutes ahead of the closest Division III entry in a field that included programs across all three NCAA divisions.
Defne Dadikhi was second after running the first kilometer in 3:50.60, but took over from there, leading by over 36-seconds after completing three-kilometers in 10:57.98 and then finishing nearly a minute ahead of second-place Raihana Yameogo (19:09.01) at the tape. It marks Defne Dadikhi's second win of the season after taking first at Gordon College's Pop Crowell Invitational on September 13 and is the third career win of her All-Region career overall.
Defne Dadikhi, the first Emerson runner to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, has posted three top 20 finishes in the Lions four meets this fall, including her two wins. She has competed in 20 events over her Emerson career, finishing in the top 20 in 15 of those races, with 12 top tens and nine top five finishes, including her three career first place finishes. Defne Dadikhi has added five second place finishes to her three wins.
Defne Dadikhi, who placed 64th (22:05.5) at the 2024 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, earned USTFCCCA All-East Region honors after a ninth place finish (22:15.5) at the Division III East Regional and collected All-NEWMAC honors after her tenth place finish (22:06.7) at the NEWMAC Championships last fall. She has been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, USTFCCCA All-Academic and NEWMAC Academic All-Conference teams for her efforts in the classroom and on the racecourse.
Emerson is right back in action on Saturday when it defends its team title at the Runnin' Monks Invitational, hosted by Saint Joseph's College of Maine, at 11 a.m. The Lions are gearing up for the 2025 NEWMAC Championships at Highland Park in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on Saturday, November 1.
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