HOPKINTON, N.H. – With five runners finishing in the top 10, the UMass Lowell men's cross country team won the 2025 America East Men's Cross Country Championship for the sixth consecutive year and the seventh time in the last eight years at the 2025 America East Cross Country Championship at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.

Graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) captured first place in this year's America East Men's Cross Country Championship, marking the second time in his career that he has been crowned the America East Men's Cross Country Individual Champion. He first earned this title in 2023, finishing the race with a time of 24:07.14.

The River Hawks ultimately finished with 24 points, securing a victory by a margin of 14 points, as five runners placed in the top 10 with three finishing in the top three.  Binghamton followed in second place with 38 points, while UMBC rounded out the top three with 85 points. 

"The top five for the men's team ran as well as we could have hoped," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "Sean and Wouter took control from the front right away and really damaged the rest of the field. Devin laid back perfectly to pick the pieces and finish in third. That part of the race played out as we thought it might, so it was a great XC championship race for him. Will Conklin has had an amazing first season, and that continued today. We wanted Nate to also lay back and work his way through the field which played out to perfection. We had a few guys who weren't at their best today, but that's why cross country is a team sport."

Van Den Akker set the pace for the River Hawks in the 8k race, claiming the gold medal with a time of 23:47.49. Senior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger (East Haddam, Conn.) was directly behind, finishing at a 24:06.20 mark, earning the silver medal, followed closely by redshirt freshman Devin Moreau (Tyngsboro, Mass.) who took the bronze medal after crossing at 24:09.74. Van Den Akker, Kennedy-Wonneberger and Moreau all earned First Team All-Conference honors for their performances.

Ffreshman William Conklin (Danvers, Mass.) and graduate student Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) also found success, finishing in the top 10, with Conklin earning eighth place at a 24:37.35 mark and DeAngelo taking 10th place at 24:42.18 to each earn Second Team All-Conference honors. 

Junior Keegan Tierney (East Greenwich, R.I.) was next, finishing in 18th place with a time of 25:03.38, followed by sophomore Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) who crossed the line in 22nd place at a time of 25:14.71. 

Finishing consecutively, senior Hatim Boukhtam (Abington, Mass.) took 36th place at a 25:37.77 mark, freshman Will Simard (Francestown, N.H.) claimed 37th place at 25:39.20, and sophomore Isaac Henderson rounded out the River Hawks' runners with a 38th-place finish, clocking in at 25:41.81, respectively. 

Following the win, the coaching staff was named the 2025 Men's Coaching Staff of the Year, while DeAngelo earned the Elite 18 Award for academic success and Moreau was given the Rookie of the Year Award.

The team will now focus on the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Northeast Regional, taking place on Friday, November 14, at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.