Northampton, Mass. - October 31, 2026 - The MIT men’s cross country team won its 28th consecutive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship title this afternoon on the campus of Smith College.
The tenth-ranked Engineers produced a team score of 25 points to finish in first in the field of nine teams from across the NEWMAC in this morning’s eight-kilometer race and was guided by Renne Cooper (Austin, Texas), who finished third overall in the field of 120 runners in 24:51.6.
No. 25 WPI took second with 59 points and was followed by Babson (66), Coast Guard (101), Springfield (168), Wheaton (190), Clark (193), Emerson (240) and Salve Regina (282).
At the conclusion of the meet, WPI’s Everett Mosher (Chester, Vt.) was named as the NEWMAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year for his first place individual finish with a time of 24:45.1, while Babson’s Luca Masolo (Portland, Ore.) finished ninth overall to earn NEWMAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year accolades. Mosher also garnered the Laurels of Academic Excellence Award for Men’s Cross Country for the second consecutive season.
MIT won the meet with five of its runners in the top-seven including Cooper’s third place finish. Cooper was followed by Nate Martinez (Thompson’s Station, Tenn.) in 24:52.4, Luke Rupert (Hill City, S.D.) in 25:05.6, Owen Sondag (Fargo, N.D.) in 25:09.9, Yichen Sun (Chapel Hill, N.C.) in 25:10.2 and Alex Bland (Flagstaff, Ariz.) in 25:13.5, who all posted top-10 finishes this afternoon for the Engineers.
Babson had three of its runners place in the top-10 leading to a third place finish as a team for the Beavers. Nick Yacoub (Sharon, Mass.) was the event’s runner-up as he finished sandwiched between Mosher and Cooper in 24:49.2, while Brian Ronayne (Reading, Mass.) took eighth in 25:11.9 and Masolo was ninth in 25:12.5.
The remaining four NEWMAC All-Conference slots went to MIT’s Michael Eischen (Franklin, Tenn.) in 11th in 25:14.7, Landon Hering (Minnetonka, Minn.) in 12th in 25:15.4 and Tage Mehta (Westfield, N.J.) in 13th in 25:26.5. Coast Guard’s Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.) was the Bears top finisher and final All-Conference honoree in 14th in 25:31.5.
Clark’s top finisher was Summit Smoker (Lititz, Pa.), who finished just outside the top-20 in 21st in 25:58.0, while Springfield’s top finisher was Elijah Quinn (Holyoke, Mass.), who took 44th in 26:56.2, and Finn Morris (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) paced Wheaton in 67th in 28:15.0. Aidan Waner (Silver Spring, Md.) was Emerson’s top runner in 72nd in 28:36.2, while Justin Ruffler was 92nd to pace Salve Regina in 29:30.6.
All 12 NEWMAC programs will now await competition in their respective NCAA Division III Regional Cross Country Championships. The East Regional will take place in South Portland, Maine, while the Mideast Regional will take place in Manchester, Connecticut both on November 14 with bids to the NCAA Division III National Championships on the line.
About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with seven Associate Members: New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 21 sports.