LOWELL, Mass. – Three total runners from the UMass Lowell men's and women's cross country teams have been named to the America East All-Academic Team, announced by the conference Thursday afternoon. Graduate student Nate DeAngelo (Bristol, Conn.) and sophomore Dante Castellano (Nashua, N.H.) earned the honors on the men's side, while sophomore Georgia Brooks (Groton, Mass.) represented the women. This marks the first All-Academic honor for all three River Hawks.  

DeAngelo had a successful cross country season both athletically and academically in 2025. On the course, he broke both his 8k and 10k personal records, first doing so in the 8k at the America East Cross Country Championship with a time of 24:42.2 to earn himself 10^th place and a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. He then followed that up with his best career 10k at the NCAA Northeast Regional, zooming to a time of 31:19.5. In the classroom as an Economics student, DeAngelo boasted a 3.49 GPA as an undergraduate student and now holds a 3.67 graduate GPA. He was also recognized for his academic efforts by receiving the America East Elite 18 Award at the conference championship for having the highest GPA of any All-Conference finisher.   

Joining him on the men's All-Academic Team for the first time is Castellano, who holds a perfect 4.0 GPA in Environmental Science and found much athletic success as well during the 2025 season. He finished ninth at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational with a personal-best 24:49.5 time in the 8k race, before competing at both the Paul Short Run and Princeton Fall Classic against some of the best competition in the country. At the America East Championship, he concluded his season with a 22^nd-place finish and 25:14.8 mark to help the squad to its sixth consecutive conference title.

Brooks was the lone woman to earn the honors after an amazing season on and off the course. At the America East Championship, she finished fifth to lead the team and earn herself First Team All-Conference honors with her personal-best 17:41.1 5k time. Two weeks later, at the NCAA Northeast Regional, she claimed 81^st place with yet another personal-best time of 21:20.9 in the 6k, capping off the best cross country season of her young career. She also excels academically and holds a 3.43 GPA in Business Administration.