Defne Dadikhi is the first NCAA Championships qualifier in program history and returns to the event for the second-straight year on Saturday (PHOTO BY Keith Nordstrom/Wheaton College)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (November 20, 2025) – Emerson College All-Region senior Yasmin Defne Dadikhi is ready to make program history once again as she competes at the 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, hosted by Converse University and OneSpartanburg, Inc., at Roger Milliken Cross Country Course on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The women's six-kilometer championship race will be streamed live via ncaa.com, with links accessible via emersonlions.com, along with a link to live results.

Defne Dadikhi, the first runner in Emerson history to qualify for the NCAA Championships, will compete at the event for the second-straight year after posting a program-best seventh place finish at the NCAA East Regional at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in New Hampshire, on Saturday. She completed the six-kilometer run in a program-best 21:42 to earn an at large spot at this weekend's NCAA Championships as an individual qualifier and will represent Emerson among the 32 teams and 70 individual qualifiers in the field on Saturday.

Defne Dadikhi improved on her ninth-place finish at the East Regional in 2024 and aims to do the same in South Carolina on Saturday. In her NCAA Championships debut last fall, she finished 64^th in the field of 293 entries in a then program-best 22:05.5 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Defne Dadikhi will be aiming for a spot inside the 40 which will make her the first All-American in program history from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and the tenth all-time in Emerson athletics history.

Defne Dadikhi is a three-time USTFCCCA All-Region and All-NEWMAC performer over the course of her Emerson career. She turned in a program-best third place finish (21:48.6) at the NEWMAC Championships to start the month of November and has finished inside the top ten in four-straight meets, including a pair of wins at the Hopkinton Cross Country Festival (18:13.7 – 5K) and Coach Dann Runnin' Monks Classic (23:28.9) in October. Defne Dadikhi has twice been named NEWMAC Athlete of the Week and has recorded three first place finishes overall, with four top fives and seven top ten finishes this fall.

Defne Dadikhi Season Results:

• NCAA III East Regional (Hopkinton, N.H.), November 15 – 7^th Place – 21:41.3 (6K)
• NEWMAC Championships (Attleboro, Mass.), November 1 – 3^rd place – 21:48.6 (6K)
• Coach Dann Runnin' Monks Classic (Standish, Maine), October 18 – 1^st place – 23:28.9 (6K)
• Hopkinton Cross Country Festival (Hopkinton, N.H.), October 10 – 1^st place – 18:13.7 (5K)
• UMass Dartmouth Invitational (Dartmouth, Mass.), September 20 – 24^th place – 22:12.4 (6K)
• Pop Crowell Invitational (Wenham, Mass.), September 13 – 1^st place – 22:09.0 (6K)
• Suffolk Short Course Classic (Attleboro, Mass.), August 30 – 16^th place – 11:25.2 (3K)

Defne Dadikhi Past NCAA Championship Runs:

• 2025 NCAA III East Regional (Hopkinton, N.H.), November 15 – 7^th Place – 21:41.3 (6K)
• 2024 NCAA III Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.), November 23, 2024 – 64^th place – 22:05.5 (6K)
• 2024 NCAA III East Regional (Hopkinton, N.H.), November 16, 2024 – 9^th place – 22:15.5 (6K)
• 2023 NCAA III East Regional (Hopkinton, N.H.), November 11, 2023 – 33^rd place – 22:58.3 (6K)

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