Full Results

ORONO, Maine – The UMass Lowell men's cross country team had an impressive showing once again at the America East Championships, earning its fourth straight conference championship on Friday at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.
 
The victory marks the team's sixth title since joining the America East back in 2013-14, as well as the fifth title in the last six years. The squad had a large margin of victory, as well, scoring 34 points, compared to second-place Maine's 74 and the bronze medal-winning New Hampshire's 97. Along with the men, the River Hawk women picked up a top-three finish, earning 81 points. 
 
"We feel really good about the men," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "We knew with both teams this year, we were redshirting a bunch of kids, so we knew it was going to be a good cast of people out there and they competed really hard today. Obviously, with three guys in the top five and the race winner, that's about as good as it gets. We're proud of both teams."
 
The River Hawks took five of the top ten spots in the 8K race en route to the victory. Junior Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) crossed the line with a time of 24.07.14, earning first place overall in the event and becoming the America East Individual Champion by a whopping 20.52 seconds. The win gives him First Team All-Conference honors, which are given to the top-seven finishers. 
 
Junior Will Benoit (Fairhaven, Mass.) finished in sixth place with a time of 24.45.79 to also collect a All-Conference First Team nod. Van Den Akker and Benoit were joined by graduate student Hunter Marion (Templeton, Mass.) with a time of 24.59.28, sophomore Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.), who finished with a time of 25.00.94, and senior Joe Young, with a time of 25.02.96. Marion, Kennedy-Wonneberger and Young concluded the race in eighth, ninth and tenth place, respectively, giving them a spot on the All-Conference Second Team, which consists of the runners that place from eighth to 14th. The achievements did not stop there for Marion, however, as he also added the America East Cross Country Elite 18 Award to his collection, which honors the event medalist with the highest GPA.