SCSU and Bentley Look to Defend 2024 Crowns
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. - The NE10 Cross Country Championship goes off this weekend, with the women's 6K running at 11 AM Sunday and the men's 8K following at 12:15 PM. The races are hosted in Manchester, N.H. by Saint Anselm College and will be broadcast live on FloCollege (
men's race |
women's race).
Southern Connecticut is seeking its fourth consecutive men's championship while Bentley is defending on the women's side. SCSU is led by previous NE10 XC Champion Jonny Volpe, while Bentley runs behind 2024 NE10 Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Year Lily Tedford.
"Jonny is one of the most stubborn athletes I have ever coached," SCSU distance coach Brian Nill said. "He refuses to lose and when he does, he comes back even harder the next time out."
Volpe didn't compete at the NE10 Championship last fall while he battled a stress fracture in his foot. He is a grad student in sports management and also has his undergraduate degree in sports management from SCSU. The Owls are further backed by John Glidden and Nate Huebner, who captured NE10 Runner of the Week to start this fall. Huebner has seen a steady rise over his career. His freshman year he was 71st at NE10's. As a sophomore he was 40th and as a junior he was eighth last fall.
Bentley's women look to replace 2024 Regional Champion Caitlin Burmester, who graduated as the NE10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Tedford runs with 2023 NE10 XC Rookie of the Year Molly Capece and Samantha Doran, who dropped two minutes from her 5K time from a year ago at the New England Championships two weeks back.
The Falcons will have to fend off SCSU's women, who are captained by Courtney Henchcliffe -- the NE10 Runner of the Week every week she competed this fall. Henchcliffe returns from a shattered collarbone that cost her 2024 after leading SCSU to the school's first title in '23.
"Courtney is an incredibly resilient athlete," Nill said. "Throughout the injury process, Court was trooper and cross-trained for three months straight on the bike before she was cleared to run in January. Despite the major setback, Courtney was able to compete outdoors and was NE10 Champion in the 5k as well as finishing seventh at the All-New England Championships where she ran the second fastest 5k in SCSU history."
Other notable individuals include SNHU's Dillon Labonte, who was named the NCAA's Elite 90 winner last fall as the top acadmeic student-athlete in DII. He's a double major in engineering and math. Mason Behl and Rocco Bueti lead the Bentley men after being named all-conference last fall. Behl interend for Liberty Mutual over the summer and Max Lampe will be working for Ernst & Young after graduation. Notably for Saint Michael's, the Purple Knights tout several top runners that are also members of the school's varisty nordic ski team, including Fran Peterson and Jersey Miller on the women's side and Andrew Scanio on the men's side among others.
Saint Anselm is looking to run well on a home course. The Hawks women are replacing 2024 NE10 Champion Anyelina Martinez with Cara Morris and the Olsen/Olson duo - Sophia and Jill.
"This is Jill's first season running cross country," coach Brian Stankiewicz said of Olson. "She has made the conversion from soccer player and track runner to full-time runner and has done so seamlessly. We were smart with her first summer to make sure she will not burn out, and she has bought into the training." Olsen, meanwhile, has been one of the most improved for the Hawks.
Gunner Currier is the most recent NE10 Rookie of the Week and is looking to lead a deep Franklin Pierce squad. The Ravens are looking to replace their top runner for the second straight year following the departures of Wondu Summa and Ryan Outerbridge in 2023 and 2024. Sam Fortin has been FPU's top runner this fall.
"Sam keeps things light hearted," FPU coach Liam Murphy said. "Sam doesn't obsess over the small stuff. He puts his head down and works, but the best thing about Sam is that he brings others along for the ride. It's not all about him. Team finish is more important."
Adelphi will hope to contend on both sides while pushing one of the top rookies in the field, Max Krapf.
"He is quiet and humble," coach Katie Rees said, "but he's also a great competitor. He has a really innate sense of how to push in the distance events, especially in the middle of the race, and he also has really great speed on top of that."
Both races are open to the public and will be broadcast on Flo Sports. Fans can also purchase personalized NE10 Championship gear on site or
via the league's online store.
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 10 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
Fans can subscribe via this link to follow NE10 NOW on FloSports this season. The partnership between the NE10 and FloSports works to provide funds back to the athletic departments of the Northeast-10 Conference in support of student-athletes while promoting the league on a national platform.