Before they head to the NCAA South Region Championships later this month, the Emory University men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Illinois to compete at the 2025 University Athletic Association (UAA) championship meet on Nov. 1. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished in fifth, showcasing strong performances from each side.
On the women’s side, senior Madison Tiaffay led the team with a time of 22:09.3, securing 15th place. Tiaffay believes the Eagles performed well on the hilly course and said the team focused on supporting each other.
“If we saw a teammate in front of us, we’d try to get up there with them, because it’s easier to work together with someone than for both teammates to be running alone,” Tiaffay said.
Junior Payton Fleming said the Eagles performed well and that the team’s emphasis on uplifting each other was evident throughout the race.
“Our team has been doing an amazing job with being consistent,” Fleming said. “We put ourselves out there, we got out hard and we really worked together to push each other and push ourselves.”
While Tiaffay led the squad, several Eagles followed closely behind, with sophomore Davis Johnson coming in 23rd place, junior Elizabeth Csikai in 25th and Fleming coming in 28th. Fleming noted that having a strong mentality gets runners through challenging moments in races.
“There’s the saying, ‘Pain is temporary,’” Fleming said. “You hit a hill, or you hit a spot where you’re alone and you’re like, ‘I know I can get through it. I’ve gotten through it before, so all I have to do is hang tough.’ And I’ve just been keeping my eyes on the finish.”
Junior Cameron Gupta highlighted how hard the meet’s course was, saying not all the runners were in the best physical condition, but emphasized the importance of trusting their training and coaches.
“Some of our girls are sick, like I’m sick right now — the stress of finals and school and all of that definitely starts to weigh on you at this time of the semester,” Gupta said. “Besides that, we raced really well.”
On the men’s side, junior John Urciuoli claimed All-UAA Second Team honors and led the group with a time of 25:13.9 and a 13th-place finish, while sophomore Ryan Van de Berghe earned 16th place with a time of 25:21. To prepare for the race, Van de Berghe said he stuck to his pre-race routine of visualizing the difficult course.
“Try to imagine every little step, every hill, every turn, every time where you can make a move, or someone can make a move, every key moment of the race,” Van de Berghe said. “Just imagine it, cycle it through your head over and over again, all the different possible scenarios the race can go — all with the intention of making sure that I’m ready for anything.”
Van de Berghe also said the Eagles had a solid performance, despite the fact that they had less experience than some of their opponents.
“As a team, very proud of how far we’ve come for how collectively young we are and how unexperienced we are with racing,” Van de Berghe said. “Being able to compete with some teams that may have a lot more experience than us has really been a success for us.”
Freshman Amos Pres, who came in 39th place with a time of 25:59, noted that it was important to start out strong to stay with the group. He also said that he appreciated the advice he received from the upperclassmen the night before the race, which helped his mental approach during the race.
“The night before the race, in the hotel, we had an athlete meeting,” Pres said, “All the older guys were dropping advice about the type of race it is, how to prepare for it, if it’s fast, if it’s slow.”
As a freshman, Pres said he believes that he will continue to improve upon his performance in the future as he gains more experience at high-stakes meets.
“The more you race a specific event or meet like UAAs, the more experience you have under your belt, the better you're going to perform,” Pres said.
