HOPKINTON, N.H. – The UMass Lowell men's and women's cross country team is looking to spook the competition at this year's America East Cross Country Championship on Halloween. The men are seeking their sixth consecutive conference title, while the women look to get back in the win column and earn their fourth championship in the last six years.

"It's been a successful fall thus far and we are looking to carrying that into championship weekend," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "There has been a ton of growth from our less experienced team members which will hopefully help us perform well throughout the next two weeks."

UMass Lowell will be hosting this 2025 America East Cross Country Championship on Friday, October 31 at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. The men will kick it off with their 8K race at 11:00 a.m., while the women will follow them up at 12:00 p.m. with their 5K race, before the awards ceremony begins at approximately 1:15 p.m.

Each team has had a plethora of conference success in recent years and most notably, the men have won at this meet five consecutive times. Not only have they won five in a row, but also six in the past seven years. They will also look to have the men's individual champion for the seventh time in nine years. Current graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) was the last River Hawk to do so in 2023.

On the women's side, after just narrowly missing out on the victory last year and finishing second, they look to pick up their fourth championship in the last six seasons, and also their fourth consecutive individual champion. In 2022, it was Kenzie Doyle that crossed the finish line in first place, before Mary-Kate Finn ran to the individual victory the past two seasons.

The team is prepared to come together as a unit and get the job done, after building to this moment all season long. They have competed in the Vermont Invitational, Hartford Invitational, UMass Dartmouth Invitational, New England Championships and the CCSU Mini Meet to help develop the younger, less experienced runners and give them a chance to settle into collegiate cross country against stiff competition, but have also tested their talents against some top programs at the Paul Short Invitational and Princeton Fall Classic, preparing them for a competitive field at this conference meet and beyond.

For the men, in addition to some younger runners, they return last year's third and fourth place finishers in Van Den Akker and senior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) who look to not only find success again but improve upon last year's result. Junior Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) will also compete in the conference race again after last year's 22nd place finish and 24:57.9 mark.

The women will be returning last season's 13^th-place finisher and All-Conference Second Team honoree, graduate student Sarah Ross (Agawam, Mass.), as well as senior Miana Caraballo (Methuen, Mass.) (23^rd place), sophomore Georgia Brooks (Groton, Mass.) (50^th place), senior Mia Jones (Blacksburg, Va.) (56^th place) and graduate student Delaney Swanson (Swanzey, N.H.) (65^th place), while relying on a handful of first-timers to step up and get the job done.  

Both races will be streamed on AmericaEast.tv and the live results can be found here.