From the Ivy League to the Big East.
2026 College graduate and cross country phenom Anna Weirich is making the move to Providence College for her final seasons of eligibility. She was part of the Quakers since the 2024 cross country season after two years at former Pac-12 powerhouse UCLA.
Weirich earned her first career All-Ivy honors during the 2025 cross country season, when she finished ninth in the conference at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. The Portola Valley, Calif., native concluded her season with an impressive showing at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals, finishing 37th out of 215 runners.
She’s also been a consistent force on the Quakers’ long distance squad during her senior indoor and outdoor seasons. At Indoor Heps, Weirich scored four critical points for the Quakers in the 5000-meter run, finishing fourth in the conference in an impressive 16:41.81. She ranks No. 4 in program history in the event, while also ranking seventh in program history in the 3000-meter run.
At the 2026 Penn Relay Carnival, Weirich ran a blazing 34:10.94 in her first ever collegiate 10000-meter run finish. The effort stamped her name into the outdoor program record books with a top five time in Quaker history. She would barely miss the podium in the event at Outdoor Heps, ultimately finishing seventh in the conference.
Weirich is no stranger to transferring, and Providence College is an excellent destination.
The Friars made their mark on the women’s cross country world after a historic third-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Their legacy of distance greatness continued into the 2025 outdoor season, when the Friars captured a Penn Relays title in the 4x1500-meter relay Championship of America and scored multiple first team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Weirich will almost certainly prove to be a key asset to the rebuilding Friars, who lost some of their strongest runners to New Balance Boston following the 2024-25 season. Last year, Providence punched a return ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing 32nd overall.
