TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—First year Villanova distance runner Zoe Mosher (Pleasantville, N.S.) competed on the world stage Saturday morning at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships. Mosher represented Team Canada in the U20 Women's race and posted a time of 22:14 over 6,000 meters at Apalachee Regional Park. She was selected to Team Canada after she placed fifth in the U20 Women's race at the Athletics Canada Canadian Cross Country Championships in November.
 
Saturday's race put an impressive cap on Mosher's 2025 cross country season. She finished fifth in the Team Canada lineup at the World Athletics meet and was a scoring runner as Canada finished sixth out of 10 countries in the U20 Women's race. Mosher held off the top finisher from New Zealand by one second at the finish line.
 
Just over one month earlier Mosher represented her hometown club, Athletics East, at the Canadian Cross Country Championships. She finished fifth in a field of 70 runners and crossed the finish line with a time of 28:51.0 in the 8,000-meter race. It was a particularly impressive result considering that the distance was a step up from the collegiate standard of 6,000 meters which is also the distance for the world championships.
 
Mosher made eight starts during the 2025 cross country season, including six for Villanova during the collegiate season before going on to run at the national and world championships. She was part of the Wildcats lineup at all three postseason meets: the BIG EAST Championships, the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and the NCAA Championships. Mosher came in 24^th at the BIG EAST meet and 36^th at the NCAA regional.
 
One of the keys to Villanova's success this season was the emergence of a young group of distance runners who made an immediate impact in the team's lineup. In addition to Mosher, classmates Maeve Smith (Ocean City, N.J.) and Cecilia Montagnese (Leetsdale, Pa.) each qualified for the U20 Women's race at the USATF Cross Country Championships in December.