LOWELL, Mass. – After an impressive performance at this past weekend's Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh, junior Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) has been named America East Cross Country Male Performer of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday.

In the men's gold division 8k against some of the top competition in the nation, Van Den Akker ran to a whopping 24:19.5 mark, picking up a 15th-place finish in a race that featured 393 finishers. He averaged a 4:53.6 pace per mile to help lead the River Hawks to a 15th-place finish as a team.

"Wouter ran the best cross country race of his career," said Head Coach Gary Gardner after the race. "It was a big breakthrough for him and makes him one of the best runners in the region moving forward." 

Van Den Akker and the River Hawks will return to action this Saturday, October 7, when they travel to Franklin Park in Boston for the 2023 New England Cross Country Championships.