LOWELL, Mass. – Graduate student Jan Wouter Van Den Akker (Groningen, Netherlands) of the UMass Lowell men's cross country team was crowned the 2025 America East Cross Country Men's Individual Champion this past weekend, and for his efforts, he has been named the River Hawk of the Week. 

van den Akker finished first in the conference championship 8k race by a whopping 18.7 seconds to claim his second individual title in three years. He clocked in at 23:47.5, before teammate Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger finished in second place with a 24:06.2 mark. The team also picked up three more top-10 finishes on their way to winning their sixth consecutive America East Championship and seventh in eight years, and one of the biggest reasons why was the performance of van den Akker. 

He now looks forward to the NCAA Northeast Regional on Friday, November 14 at Hopkinton State Farigrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, the same course where this conference championship was held.