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COLUMBIA, Mo. – With a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional on November 14, graduate student Jan Wouter van den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) of the UMass Lowell men's cross country team punched his ticket to the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which take place tomorrow, November 22, at the University of Missouri. The men's 10k race will kick off at 11:10 a.m. EST.

van den Akker put together a productive season for the River Hawks. He opened his fall at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on September 20, cruising to second place in the 8K. He then tested himself against elite fields at the Paul Short Run and Princeton Fall Classic in October. At Paul Short, he clocked an 8K personal-best 23:29.5 to finish 11th, followed by a 28th-place performance at Princeton. While the results were solid, his best racing was still ahead of him.

"Wouter has had an outstanding season thus far," said Head Coach Gary Gardner. "His first few races at Paul Short and Princeton went well, but you could tell he was still not 100% from the high rate of work we were doing at that time."

Following two weeks away from competition, van den Akker returned refreshed for the 2025 America East Cross Country Championship on October 31, hosted by UMass Lowell at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H. He delivered his strongest performance to date, winning the men's 8k, earning First Team All-Conference honors, and helping lead the River Hawks to a sixth consecutive conference title.

That momentum carried into the NCAA Northeast Regional, held on the same course. Once again, he rose to the moment—this time placing 10th and running a 10K personal record of 29:25.9. Emotions flowed immediately after he crossed the line, knowing he had secured his spot at nationals.

"Things came together once the workload lessened a bit at the conference meet and the NCAA regional meet," Gardner added. "Thankfully, our training has come together at the right time."

Now, with conference and regional races behind him, van den Akker turns his focus to the national stage. Reaching the NCAA Championships has long been a goal, and he plans to both enjoy the experience and carry his momentum into tomorrow's race.

"I'm going into it with a lot of excitement," van den Akker said. "I'm just very happy I made it, and I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I feel rested, I feel good, and I am definitely ready for another 10K."

Gardner shares the excitement but also understands the demands of the NCAA Championships and the level of precision required to race well.

"The way he is racing right now, we are excited about tomorrow," Gardner said. "This is a race where any mistake is magnified, so we want to race smart, which should put us somewhere in the top 80. Once you are in that position, anything can happen."

van den Akker's rise to this moment has been years in the making. The work he has put in throughout his collegiate career—patient progression, consistent training, and steady development—has prepared him for this stage.

"Wouter has really been patient in his career at UMass Lowell," said Gardner. "He has progressed through levels of training which really came together last spring, and we have built on that this summer and fall."