LOWELL, Mass. – Another successful season is in the books for the UMass Lowell men’s and women’s cross country teams, as both teams picked up some amazing performances throughout the fall. Each team found much success on the court, as the men claimed their fifth consecutive America East Cross Country Championship and eighth place at the NCAA Northeast Regional, while the women earned second place at the conference championships and 19th at the Northeast Regional. 

It all started in the summer at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac in Lenox, Mass., where the teams stay together for one week to bond as a program and train on the western Massachusetts trails to prepare for the season. 

The squad kicked off the year at the Vermont Invitational, where some of the younger athletes got a chance to show what they’ve got at the collegiate level and gain some experience. For the women, freshman Georgia Brooks led the way with a 21st-place finish and tie of 19:16.3. 

For the men, it was sophomore Keegan Tierney that finished in front of the River Hawks’ pack, taking sixth in the 8k race with a time of 25:42.4. Freshmen Dante Castellano (26:13.3) and Anthony Verdi (26:24.7) also competed well, earning 12th and 18th-place finishes, respectively.

The UMass Dartmouth Invitational came next, as the team braved the rainy weather for another successful day at the course and some of the more experienced runners made their season debuts. The River Hawks claimed the top eight spots in the men’s JV 8k race, with senior Jan Wouter Van Den Akker leading the way in first with a time of 25:04.48. Hunter Marion and Henry Farrington finished second and third right behind him with marks of 25:04.51 and 25:04.54, respectively. Joseph Young (4th, 25:04.84), Landen Vaillancourt (5th, 25:04.88) , William Benoit (6th, 25:26.10), Joseph Curran (7th, 25:26.28) and Ethan Mashtare (8th, 25:26.44) all finished consecutively in round out the top eight. Sophomore David McKinnon competed well in the varsity race, taking 19th place with a 25:27.75 mark to lead the team.

For the women, junior Mary-Kate Finn began her successful season in the JV 5k, winning with a time of 17:25.78. In the varsity race, graduate student Rachel Thomas was first to finish, earning a time of 18:22.24 for 26th place. Miana Caraballo was just behind her in 30th with a time of 18:26.47, while Sarah Ross claimed 34th with an 18:35.97 mark.

For their efforts, the River Hawks swept the America East Weekly Awards, as Van Den Akker and Finn were named the America East Performers of the Week, while freshmen Patrick Hall (JV 8k, 13th place, 25:59.84) and Georgia Brooks (Varsity 5k, 58th place, 19:19.28) were named Rookies of the Week by the conference.   

The first big test of the season was the Paul Short Run at Lehigh, where top athletes from around the nation come together to compete. Both Van Den Akker and Finn shined once again, both earning a 23rd-place finish in their respective gold races. Van Den Akker raced to a 23:58.8 mark in the men’s gold 8k, while Finn finished in 20:38.1 in the women’s gold 6k. As a team in the gold races, the men claimed 11th and the women finished in 27th. The men also finished in an impressive eighth place spot out of 55 schools in the men’s open 8k, with Hatim Boukhtam (25:34.3) and Andrew Benassi (25:34.8) leading the way with back-to-back 68th and 69th-place finishes. 

Van Den Akker and Finn were once again named America East Performers of the Week for their performances at the Paul Short

The team then competed at the Bruce Kirsch Invitational, where they would get a sneak peek at the course where they would be hosting the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Northeast Regional. This led them into the competitive Wisconsin Pre-National, where Finn took home a top 10 finish, claiming 10th place with a time of 20:49.0 to help the team to a 22nd place finish. Van Den Akker once again led the men, finishing in 17th place with a time of 24:22.3, as the men’s unit took home 11th place.

Following Van Den Akker for the men was graduate student Hunter Marion, who crossed the line with a mark of 24:40.8, placing in 41st-place, while senior William Benoit stayed attached, finishing in 45th place at 24:41.9.

Mary Yount and Sarah Ross also performed well for the women’s team, as Yount took 81st with a 21:55.1 mark and Ross finished in 107th place with a time of 22:15.7.

For the third time of the season, Van Den Akker and Finn were each named the America East Performers of the Week in the same week following Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.

The CCSU Mini Meet capped off the regular season for the River Hawks and sent the squad to the conference championships on a good note. It was graduate student Paul Neilan that stood out for the men, finishing fourth individually (14:39.16) to help the team to a third-place finish overall in the varsity 5k. Senior Adnan Abdirahman won the sub varsity race, leading the way with a time of 15:12.21. Raihana Yameogo was the leader in the women’s varsity 3k, taking 41st with a 10:37.48 mark, while sophomore Emily Burdick led the sub varsity group to a second-place finish with her ninth-place performance and 10:47.75 mark. 

All the hard work throughout the year came to fruition at the 2024 America East Cross Country Championships in St. Alabans, Vt. The men dominated on their way to their fifth straight title, while the women showed massive improvement from the prior year to pick up the silver medal as a team. 

The River Hawks’ 36 points in the men’s race gave them the victory by a whopping 28 points, with nine runners within the top 22 finishers.

Van Den Akker and junior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger earned First Team All-Conference honors for finishing in third and fourth place, respectively. Van Den Akker claimed the bronze medal with a 24:02.20 mark, while Kennedy-Wonneberger ran to a 24:09.71 mark. 

Three runners were named to the All-Conference Second Team in Will Benoit (8th, 24:32.64), Joe Young (9th, 24:42.18) and Ethan Mashtare (12th, 24:46.42).

Finn won her second consecutive women’s Individual America East Championship to help them claim second place, finishing the 5k race in 17:04.36, which was more than 11 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Mary Yount also ran extremely well, zooming to a time of 17:38.33 for sixth place and joining Finn on the All-Conference First Team. Sarah Ross was next, taking 13th place with a time of 17:55.04 for All-Conference Second Team honors.

Following the race, Finn was awarded her Individual Championship trophy, While Ross (Francis College of Engineering) took home the Elite 18 Award for her 4.0 GPA in Plastics Engineering. The coaching staff was also awarded the Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year for the victory.

Each team took this momentum with them to the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Northeast Regional, which was hosted by UMass Lowell at Hopkinton Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H. The men finished as the eighth-best team in the Northeast Region, while the women took home 19th. 

Kennedy-Wonneberger ran especially well at the event, finishing 11th with a time of 30:14.77 as the first River Hawk to cross the finish line. He was just two seconds shy of cracking the top 10.

Van Den Akker entered the top 25 with a 23rd-place finish and a time of 30:32.28, joining Kennedy-Wonneberger as All-Region honorees.

Speaking of All-Region, Finn once again performed well at the event, finishing the 5k race in 23rd place with a time of 20:27.71. Sarah Ross was the next River Hawk to finish, taking 101st with a 21:46.42 mark. 

This performance was a great end to a great season, as both teams continued to keep their reputation as a top team in both the conference and region. This bodes well for the future of the program, as well as the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons. This year is just getting started. 

Following the season, four River Hawks earned All-Academic honors, three of which were members of the women’s squad in Mary Yount, Mary-Kate Finn and Sarah Ross. Yount (College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) holds a 3.86 GPA, while double majoring in both Spanish and Psychology. This marks the third conference All-Academic nod of her career. Finn (College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) is an Economics major with a 3.81 GPA and now has been named to the All-Academic squad twice in her career. Ross (Francis College of Engineering) boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA in Plastics Engineering and is coming off a conference championships, where she earned the Elite 18 Award for the third time of her career. She also has been named to the All-Academic Team three times. 

For the men, the lone honoree was Will Benoit (Manning School of Business), who boasts a graduate GPA of 3.36 and undergraduate GPA of 3.54 in Business Administration. He is now a two-time All-Academic honoree.