HOPKINTON, N.H. (November 15, 2025) – Emerson College senior Yasmin Defne Dadikhi turned in an All-Region performance for the third-straight year and will earn a spot at the NCAA Division III Championships next weekend after turning in an eighth place individual finish at the 2025 NCAA Division III East Region Championships, hosted by Suffolk University, at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds today.
Dadikhi completed the six-kilometer course in a program-best 21:42 to improve on her 2024 finish at the event by one spot with an eighth place finish that will be good enough to receive one of the seven individual bids for the NCAA Division III Championships for the second-straight year which will be held in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at the Roger Milikin Center next Saturday, November 22. At large team bids and individual bids will officially be announced via ncaa.com tomorrow by 3 p.m.
Dadikhi ran in the lead pack all day, completing the first two-kilometer loop in 7:12, which was within six seconds of the lead. She clocked in at 14:27 over four-kilometers, which was within seven seconds of the front, before finishing 21-seconds behind senior Kate Sanderson from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who finished first in the field of 216 entries in 21:21.
In addition to earning All-East Region honors for the third-straight year from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with her top 35 finish, Dadikhi also collects All-New England honors from the DIII New England Association for the second-straight year for finishing inside the 20. She led Emerson to a 19th place team finish in the field of 30 teams with 556 points, settling in just behind Gordon College (469) and ahead of Colby-Sawyer College (586). Tufts University took the team title with 51 points by placing all five scoring runners in the top 15 to edge MIT (61 points) by ten points as the Engineers swept the top two positions but could not place another scorer inside Tufts.
Senior Olivia Kardos was one of just three Emerson runners in their lineup today with prior NCAA East Regional experience and finished the six kilometers in a regional personal-best 25:00 for a 109th place finish overall.
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Dadikhi will represent Emerson at the NCAA Division III Championships at Roger Milikin Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, next Saturday, November 22.
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