NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Yale women's cross country team recognized three individuals with awards at the season-ending banquet Dec. 5.

• Senior Claire Archer (Seattle, Wash.) won the Most Valuable Performer/Runner Award.
• First-year Phoebe Benun (Santa Monica, Calif.) won the Outstanding First-Year Award.
• Junior Hebe Chadwick (Delft, Netherlands) won the Coaches' Award.

The award winners helped the Bulldogs to a second-place finish at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships – Yale's best finish at that event since finishing second in 2016. They also helped the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional, Yale's best finish at Regionals since finishing fifth in 2021. 
   
This is the second year in a row that Archer has won the Most Valuable Performer/Runner Award. The honor comes on the heels of another impressive season for her. She earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row, this time with an 11th-place finish (20:17.0) at the 2025 Northeast Regional.
 
Archer competed at Regionals all four years of her career. In 2024 she was Yale's top finisher and was 12th overall. She placed 30th in 2022 and 48th in 2023, finishing as Yale's second runner both times. 
 
Archer was Yale's top finisher in every race she competed in this past season. In addition to her All-Region honors, she was named first team All-Ivy League for the second year in a row after placing fourth overall at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. She also was named Academic All-Ivy League.
 
Archer is a graduate of Roosevelt High School.
   
The Coaches' Award that Chadwick won is given to the person who embodies team values and has shown excellent improvement across the season. 
 
Chadwick finished among Yale's top three in four of the five races she ran this fall. That included NCAA Regionals, where she was third on the team and 27th overall (20.35.1 for the 6K) – narrowly missing out on All-Region honors. That was the best 6K time of her career. Chadwick has competed at Heps three times (finishing a career-best 30th overall this year) and Regionals twice.
 
Chadwick is a graduate of Stanislascollege Westplantsoen.
   
The Most Outstanding First-Year Award that Benun won is given to a first-year who has shown excellent ability over the course of the season. 
 
Benun progressed to a point where she finished second on the team at NCAA Regionals (26th overall, 20:34.8, one spot away from earning All-Region). She was Yale's third finisher at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships, placing 16th overall (21:50.2) and second among the league's first-years. She was one of Yale's top five finishers in all five races she ran this fall.
 
Benun is a graduate of Santa Monica High School.
The Bulldogs now bid farewell to Archer and eight other seniors: Ruby Barton (Wellington, New Zealand), Marina Carlos (Houston, Texas), Anna Chamberlin (Boiling Springs, Pa.), captain Linde Fonville (Charlotte, N.C.), Cara Joyce (Atlanta, Ga.), Miranda Lorsbach (Montclair, N.J.), Marisa Poe (Washington, D.C.) and Charlotte Whitehurst (Annapolis, Md.). Four of Yale's seven NCAA Regionals runners return for next season.