Nine Hounds Earn 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Metro All-Region Honors
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Nine members of the Moravian University men’s and women’s cross country teams garnered 2025 NCAA Division III Metro All-Region from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for finishing in the Top 35 during the 2025 Metro Regional hosted by Rowan University on Saturday, November 15.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Nine members of the Moravian University men's and women's cross country teams garnered 2025 NCAA Division III Metro All-Region from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for finishing in the Top 35 during the 2025 Metro Regional hosted by Rowan University on Saturday, November 15.
The Greyhound men finished third of 26 teams in the Regional, and Moravian had five runners earn All-Region accolades. Junior Gavin Hefferan earned his second All-Region accolade with a PR time of 24:45.8 to finish sixth and receive a berth to the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championships in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Saturday, November 22 while senior Bryan Kerchner received All-Region accolades for the third time as he placed tenth with a time of 24:51.5. Graduate student Cole Frank garnered his first All-Region honor at Moravian with a 11th place time of 24:55.6 while junior Nate Moore made All-Region for the first time with a 20th place finish in a time of 25:26.6 and freshman Braeden Knotts earned All-Region in his debut season with a 34th place showing in 25:55.9.
"Gavin obviously highlighted our All-Region runners with his big kick over the final 600 meters to earn his second trip to NCAAs. He put himself farther up into the field than he ordinarily likes to which proved to be beneficial since the field never really slowed down and it was hard to make up appreciable gaps," noted Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "The individual race at the top of the field was extremely deep this year and multiple runners are able to contend for All American honors next week. Although we wanted to see both Cole and Bryan make NCAAs, it was just a tough year. I can't recall a time when sub 25:00 didn't get you to NCAAs, something they both did by a sizable margin on Saturday. They were constantly in a position to make NCAAs and compete with the top of the field, it just happened to be a historically strong individual battle. They had great races to be proud of!
"Nate had a great race in his first ever regional meet, consistently marking TCNJ's number 4-5 scorer and holding a top 20 position throughout the whole race," continued Baumann. "He did everything we could have asked of him and had another impressive race to be a key anchor for our scoring runners. He's someone we know can contend for top 10 next fall. Braeden got pinched into the back of the main group along with two of our other runners. That gave him a lot of ground to make up for the last four miles of the race, but he's a very mature racer who moves extremely well through the field and he leaped from 60th at the mile into All Region position. He was one of only five freshmen on the All Region team and he'll be a key part of our program moving forward!"
The women's squad finished third of 25 schools and had four runners finish in the Top 35. Junior Tara Smurla placed first of 192 competitors with a PR time of 21:11.4 on the 6,000-meter course to garner All-Region honors for the four straight season. Smurla qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships for the third consecutive fall with her second straight regional title. Senior Meghan Myers earned All-Region for the first time as she finished 13th in a PR time of 22:28.7 while freshman Kate Veivia garnered All-Region in her debut season with a 29th place and PR time of 22:58.1. Junior Kierstyn Klingner received her first All-Region honor as she took 24th in a PR time of 23:04.3.
"It was an awesome day for the women," stated Baumann. "The region's individual talent depth is as good as it has ever been, and we knew Tara would have a tight race going into the meet. Due to the depth, she was never able to create a gap and was in a battle every step of the race. She was mentally throughout and had a monumental kick, all of which should be great preparation heading into NCAAs this week. For Meghan, in her last ever XC race, it wound up being the first medal she's ever earned as a runner! She ran faster on Saturday for 6k than she ran at any point in high school for a 5k. Moravian has possibly had equals, but I can't think of anyone who made a bigger jump from high school to their senior year here. In the race, she ran like always, going out conservatively and then steadily moving from 24th at the mile to 13th at the finish. She's now the 12th fastest 6k runner in our school's history!
"Kate and Kierstyn each had great races too in what was the first regional race for both of them. They didn't let the moment get too big for them, they threw themselves into the mix from the gun and just competed with those around them. Kierstyn placed higher at Regionals than she did at Landmarks last fall which shows how much of a leap she's made, and Kate was one of only three freshmen on the All-Region team which shows how impressive her performance was. We're very fortunate to have both back for next year to help lead us moving forward," Baumann finished.
View the full list of 2025 All-Region runners at https://www.ustfccca.org/2025/11/featured/2025-ncaa-division-iii-cross-country-all-region.
