Cross Country at the NEWMAC Championships
Saturday, November 1 | 11 a.m. (Men), 12 p.m. (Women)
Highland Park (Mark Coogan Course) | Attleboro, Mass. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The Babson men's and women's cross country teams travel to Attleboro, Mass., to compete in the 2025 NEWMAC Championships on Saturday. 
•    The men will open the day with an 8k race at 11 a.m. on the Mark Coogan Course and the women will follow with a 6k race at 12 p.m. 
•    The 2025 NEWMAC Championships return to Highland Park for the first time since 2022 and second time in conference history. 

LAST TIME AT HIGHLAND PARK
•    The Babson men placed fourth and the women came in fifth at the Suffolk Short Course Classic to begin the season back on August 30. 
•    Sophomore Nick Yacoub finished ninth in the men's 5k with a time of 15:55, while first-years Calvin Volkman (16:24) and Oliver Jones (16:27) placed 27th and 30th, respectively. 
•    Sophomore Sophia Draxler came in 47th with a time of 12:19 on the 3k course for the Babson women, who had five competitors finished between 47th and 70th. 

2024 NEWMAC CHAMPIONSHIPS HIGHLIGHTS
•    Anthony Rodriguez '24 M'25 finished as the runner-up, Julian Ivarra '25 came in fifth and Yacoub added a 13th-place showing as the Babson men recorded their lowest point total in conference championship history on the way to placing third last November on Wellesley's Nehoiden Golf Club course. 
•    Rodriguez (24:42), Ivarra (25:06) and Yacoub (25:38) all earned all-conference honors in the men's 8k meet as the Beavers came in third for the fourth consecutive season. 
•    Sophomore Shriya Peddi finished 39th with a time of 23:54 that ranks as the program's third fastest since the championship moved to a 6k, and senior Chloe Clifford placed 45th overall with a time of 24:25 to lead the Babson women, who came in seventh with their lowest point total since 2018. 

ABOUT THE BABSON MEN 
•    The Beavers enter this year's conference meet coming off an 18th place finish at the Connecticut College Invitational back on October 18. 
•    Yacoub recorded a career-best time of 24:56 to finish 48th overall, while sophomore Brian Ronayne (25:46), junior John Hanscom (26:10) and sophomore Daniel Garcia (26:50) all posted personal-best time for the Green and White. 
•    Yacoub owns Babson's top average time (25:09) in three 8k meets this fall, Ronayne is second on the team at 25:53 in a pair of races and first-year Oliver Jones is third on the squad with an average time of 25:59 in three races. 
•    Yacoub, Ronayne, Jones, Hanscom and junior Brian Gall have all broken 26:00 minutes at least once this fall, while first-year Arthur Boulot registered his top time of the season (26:07) at the Connecticut College Invitational. 

ABOUT THE BABSON WOMEN
•    The Beavers placed 13th in the Connecticut College Invitational White 6k at Harkness Park back on October 18.
•    Draxler came in 45th with a career-best time of 23:32, Clifford finished 76th in a career-best time of 23:55 and Peddi placed 80th with a time of 24:01 in her season debut for the Green and White, which had its top seven competitors separated by just over 90 seconds. 
•    First-year Sophia Nakakura (24:49) posted her top time of the year and sophomore Brigid Kelly (28:54) recorded a new personal-best time for Babson.
•    Junior Taijah Harvey (25:06) and first-year Ali Meyers (25:10) both crossed the finish with their best 6k times of the year at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on September 20, while senior Alexandra Kirkpatrick registered a season-best time of 25:08 at the Connecticut College Invitational two weeks ago. 

POLLING NUMBERS
•    Although the Babson men dropped one spot following the Connecticut College Invitational, they are ranked sixth while the women are 10th the latest USTFCCCA East Region rankings marking the first time in school history that both programs have been regionally ranked at the same time.
•    The Beavers were picked to finish third in the men's race and sixth in the women's meet when the NEWMAC released their pre-championship polls late last week. 

HISTORY AT HIGHLAND PARK
•    The Babson men placed third and the Beavers' women's squad came in ninth at the 2022 NEWMAC Championships on the Mark Coogan Course at Highland Park. 
•    Anthony Rodriguez '24 M'25 owns the men's fastest 8k time on the Mark Coogan Course (25:12). 
•    Clifford (24:42) and Kirkpatrick (25:12) are the only Babson women that raced at the 2022 conference championship, while no one on the men's roster competed in the 2022 league meet. 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
•    The Babson men have recorded four of the five lowest point totals in school history while recording four consecutive third-place finishes at the NEWMAC Championship.
•    The Babson women's seventh-place showing in 2024 was its best since 2018 and tied for the program's third best finish behind the 2010 and 2011 squads, which both placed sixth. 
•    The Babson men are one of four regionally-ranked teams entering Saturday's race along with defending champions MIT (No. 1 East Region, No. 11 nationally), WPI (No. 5 East Region) and Coast Guard (No. 9 Mideast Region). 
•    The Beavers are also one of four regionally-ranked squads in the women's race along with No. 2 MIT (No. 1 East Region), Wellesley (No. 5 East Region) and Coast Guard (No. 7 Mideast Region). 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The women's top 6k time at the NEWMAC Championship (23:10) was recorded by Emma Cavanagh '21 at the 2019 meet hosted at Franklin Park. 
•    The men's top 8k time at the conference meet (24:42) was posted by Anthony Rodriguez '24 M'25 last November at Nehoiden Golf Club. 

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers travel to Hopkinton, N.H., for the NCAA East Regional Championships on November 15.