Men's, Women's Cross Country Clinch NE-10 Title

On October 22 both the men’s and women’s cross country teams brought home the Northeast-10 Conference Championship to Stonehill.

            The men’s team ranked 15^th nationally had 6 of its runners finish in the top 20 of the 8-kilometer race with junior Alex Demeule leading the Skyhawks coming in fifth place.

Senior captain James Murphy finished came in sixth place, finishing less than 2 seconds behind Demeule. This title becomes the men’s teams ninth in program history.

“You never want to be the team that couldn’t come through… it’s awesome to be a part of the success,” Murphy said.

            The women’s team ranked 23^rd nationally clinched their ninth straight Northeast-10 Championship and 16^th championship in program history.

Senior captain Emily Knox led the way for the women’s team, coming in first place in the six-kilometer race, beating out the second place finisher by more than twelve seconds.

            The Skyhawks had two other top 10 finishers with junior Makenzie Cyr placing third, and senior captain Abby Hersom finishing in ninth.

            “There is an expectation to uphold the legacy established by those that came before,” Said Hersom after helping seal the women’s ninth straight title.

            Junior captain Riley Dowd sees the men’s team a bit differently.

 “It’s a surreal feeling having a season like this,” Dowd said. Dowd said the ongoing success the both programs have seen are great, and it would not be possible without head coach Karen Boen.

Boen, in her 20^th year at Stonehill, has seen unprecedented success. Coaching the women’s team, Boen has won 15 NE-10 championships, 14 NCAA D-II East Region titles, and qualified for NCAA national championships for 17 consecutive years.

At the helm of the men’s team, Boen has won seven NE-10 championships, three NCAA D-II East Region titles, and qualified for NCAA national championships for 11 straight years.

Boen’s runners certainly know what makes her so great.

“She is brutally honest and will not accept anything less than your best,” Hersom said, “She’ll take toughness over talent any day.”

Dowd shared that sentiment. “She is tough, but she knows what she’s doing and how to get results… We are extremely lucky to have her,” Dowd said.

Boen and both the men’s and women’s teams are looking forward to their next meet, knowing there is still much more to accomplish this season.

They will be competing at Daemen College in Amherst New York, on November 4 in hopes of winning the NCAA D-II East Region title yet again.

            The teams know that making it to nationals is certainly possible, but making some noise is their goal. “We’ve qualified for nationals for many years but we haven’t made a big statement there…[it’s] certainly within our reach.”

            If all goes well, two weeks later they will compete once again at the University of Southern Indiana for the NCAA D-II National Championship.