These Five Girls Raised Their Stocks At National XC Meets

For college coaches, it can be hard comparing athletes based on their cross country times due to the variation in courses and weather and competition.

Track times are usually a better gauge for how fast runners are and how they're progressing.

Still, three national cross country championships took place this month, which helped identify how runners fare against each other and handle pressure.

Below, we look at five girls (in alphabetical order) in the Class of 2025 who ran well at the meets and helped their recruiting profile.

We did not include any younger athletes such as Class of 2026 stars Addison Ritzenhein and Elizabeth Leachman, who won the Nike Cross Nationals and the Foot Locker Nationals, respectively.

Related Links:

The Top 50 Girls Recruits In The Class of 2025

Holly Barker, Trabuco Hills (CA)

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After spending the last two years at Laguna Hills High School, Barker transferred this year to Trabuco Hills and didn't miss a beat. 

At Nike Cross Nationals, Barker finished 12th, the fastest of any Californian. The previous week, she was second at the California Division 1 state meet behind junior Rylee Blade of Santiago Corona, who beat Barker by 17.5 seconds. Blade was 76th at the Nike Cross Nationals.

Barker is accustomed to shining on big cross country stages. A year ago, she was third at the state Division 4 meet and 33rd at the Champs Sports national meet, which was the sixth-best placement among sophomores.

Barker set outdoor track personal-bests last year of 4:52.41 in the 1,600m and 10:11.56 in the 3,200m, which were U.S. No. 52 and U.S. No. 5 among sophomores, respectively. She is No. 50 in MileSplit's Class of 2025 girls recruiting rankings and should receive plenty of offers from major college programs.

Ella Hagen, Summit (CO)

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At last year's Nike Cross Nationals, Hagen finished 25th, the fifth-fastest time among sophomores. She was even better this year, placing 10th overall and second among juniors at the meet.

Three Colorado runners were faster than Hagen at the Nike meet: sophomore Addison Ritzenhein of Niwot was first, Bethany Michalak of Air Academy was second and Isabel Allori of Liberty Common was fourth. Air Academy won the meet, while Niwot was second.

Hagen also finished second behind Ritzenhein at the Colorado state Class 4A meet on Oct. 28. As a sophomore last year, Hagen won the 4A cross country title.

Hagen, MileSplit's No. 42 girls recruit in the Class of 2025, has been impressive on the track, too. In May, she won the 1,600m and finished second behind Ritzenhein in the 3,200m at the Colorado 4A outdoor track meet. Among sophomores, she was U.S. No. 43 in the 1,600m (4:54.35) and U.S. No. 7 in the 3,200m (10:13.18).

Jessica Jazwinski, Hart (MI)

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Jazwinski had a busy fall, running almost every week and finishing at or near the top each time out. She concluded her season in fine fashion, placing ninth overall and first among juniors at Foot Locker Nationals.

This week, all that success paid off, as Jazwinski committed to North Carolina State, the three-time reigning NCAA cross country champions. After finishing second behind Michigan State signee Rachel Forsyth in her opening season meet, Jazwinski won 13 consecutive races, including the Division 3 state title by 40 seconds.

She then finished fourth at Foot Locker Midwest meet behind Forsyth, Addison Knoblauch and Libby Dowty, who were third, fifth and 19th at Foot Locker Nationals. 

Jazwinski, who is No. 47 in MileSplit's Class of 2025 girls recruiting rankings, is no stranger to performing well. As a sophomore, she won 15 cross country races, including the Division 3 meet and the Michigan Meet of Champions. She was also 11th at Foot Locker. 

At the state outdoor state meet in June, Jazwinski was first in the 3,200m (10:57.99), second in the 1,600m (4:58.86) and third in the 800m (2:16.22).

Jazwinski isn't the only promising runner in her family. Her brother, Bobby, is a freshman who was third at the Michigan state cross country meet. Her mother, Katie, was an All-American runner at the University of Michigan.

Zariel Macchia, William Floyd (NY)

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Since finishing 12th at Foot Locker Nationals as a freshman, Macchia has been on the national radar. She has continued to improve and prove that was no fluke.

Macchia, MileSplit's No. 16 girls recruit in the Class of 2025, placed 10th at the same race this month. This fall, she was also the Foot Locker Northeast champion and won the New York Federation Championships.

As a sophomore, Macchia won a state cross country title and was second at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships and sixth at Foot Locker. During the outdoor season, she ran personal-bests of 4:47.16 in the mile and 10:17.16 in the 3,200m, which were U.S. No. 8 and U.S. No. 9 among sophomores, respectively.

At the USATF U20 Championships in July, she was second in the 3,000m (9:47.68) and seventh in the 5,000m (17:45.06). Macchia, who turned 17 in May, then placed third in the 3,000m (9:52.40) at the Pan American U20 meet in August.

Photo Credit: Bobby Reyes/MileSplit

Emily Wisniewski, Crescent Valley (OR)

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Wisniewski was the top junior at the Nike Cross Nationals, where she finished third overall behind sophomore Addison Ritzenehin and senior Bethany Michalak.

Wisniewski's impressive performance wasn't too surprising, though, as she was dominant throughout the fall.

She won the Oregon state Class 5A title for the third consecutive year in a meet-record 17:05.80, as well as the NXR Northwest title. Wisniewski, MileSplit's No. 19 recruit in the Class of 2024, was 27th at Nike Cross Nationals as a sophomore a year ago.

During the outdoor season, she set personal-bests of 4:52.94 in the mile and 10:24.91 in the 2-mile, which were U.S. No. 23 and U.S. No. 4 times among sophomores. She was also second in the 5,000m (16:10.6) at Nike Outdoor Nationals.