SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Carleton College senior Gabe Nichols finished 86th at the 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, his third consecutive year racing at Nationals.
 
"It was a good finish to a great cross country career," said Carleton head coach Dave Ricks.
 
The race got out incredibly fast, and Nichols was buried in the pack, sitting 232nd out of 294 runners after the opening 2,000 meters, but that is when he began his charge up the leaderboard. He passed 12 runners over the next kilometer, then improved another 49 spots by the midpoint of the race.
 
Nichols climbed an additional 23 spots into 148th place by the 5-kilometer split before improving 26 places over the next 1,000 meters. With a kilometer to go, he jumped into 106th place, a move of 16 spots in the standings, before passing another 20 runners over the final 1,000 meters as he crossed the finish line at 25:13.0. Overall, he passed 146 runners over the final six kilometers.
 
In addition to improvement over the course a race, Nichols showed improvement throughout the season and over this career. He was the 14th-fastest racer from the North Region this time around, improving from his 20th place finish at the North Region Championships last weekend. He finished 134th in his first trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2023 before placing 125th in 2024.