Cross Country at the Suffolk Short Course Classic
Saturday, September 5 | Women's 3k, 10:45 a.m. | Men's 5k, 11:30 a.m.
Highland Park (Mark Coogan Course) | Attleboro, Mass.
WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson men's and women's cross country teams will kick off the 2026 campaign at the Suffolk Short Course Classic on the Mark Coogan Course inside Highland Park on Saturday morning.
• The Beavers will be competing in the event for the second consecutive year while opening their season at Highland Park for the sixth year in a row.
• This is the fifth edition of the Suffolk Short Course Classic, which was held on the opening weekend of the season at Franklin Park in Boston from 2021-23 and again last year.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD
• Babson is one of 18 teams expected to compete on Saturday, including 14 from Division III, three from Division II and one from Division I.
• Four teams from the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) will be on hand, including Babson, Emerson, Salve Regina and Wheaton.
LAST YEAR'S SEASON OPENER
• The Babson men placed fourth out of 17 teams while the women finished fifth among 18 squads of the Suffolk Short Course Classic on August 30, 2025, at Highland Park.
• Junior
Nick Yacoub crossed the finish line in ninth place among 159 runners in the men's 5K race in a time of 15:55, an identical time to his collegiate debut on the same course in 2024. Sophomores
Calvin Volkmann (23rd, 16:24) and
Oliver Jones (27th, 16:27) turned in strong performances in their collegiate debuts, and junior
Brian Ronayne was 28th in 16:27 for the Beavers (115), who finished behind Holy Cross (26), New Hampshire (52) and WPI (67).
• Junior
Sophia Draxler was the first Beaver across the finish line in the women's 3K race, coming in 47th out of 190 runners in a time of 12:19 the 3K course.
Chloe Clifford '26 placed 51st in 12:25, 16 seconds better than her time on the same course the year before.
Alexandra Kirkpatrick '26 and sophomore
Ali Meyers came in 60th and 61st for the Beavers (227), who finished behind Northeastern (30), New Hampshire (57), Holy Cross (74) and host Suffolk (157).
ABOUT THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers return their top 11 runners from a team that placed third at the NEWMAC meet and matched a program-best sixth at the NCAA East Regionals last season.
• Yacoub earned All-NEWMAC and All-Region honors with a seventh place at the conference meet and a 22nd place at the NCAA East Regionals.
• Ronayne narrowly missed an All-NEWMAC selection after a 17th place at the conference championship followed by a 39th place finish at the regionals. Senior
John Hanscom capped a strong season with a 24th place at the conference meet and 47th at regionals, and sophomore
Arthur Boulot (23rd-NEWMAC, 54th-regionals) and Jones (26th-NEWMAC, 61st-regionals) finished off impressive rookie campaigns.
ABOUT THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers return four of the top five runners and nine of the top 11 from a team that placed seventh at the NEWMAC Championships and 17th at the NCAA East Regionals in 2025.
• Junior
Shriya Peddi, who missed all but one race last season with an injury, is back after being Babson's top finisher in five of six races in 2024, including 39th in her conference championship debut. Draxler was the Beavers' top finisher in five of six races last fall, including the NEWMACs (34th) and regionals (59th).
• Meyers (54th), sophomore
Sophia Nakakura (57th), and senior
Taijah Harvey (68th) rounded out the Green and White's top finishers at the 2025 NEWMAC championship.
THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY
• The Babson cross country teams are led by head coach
Russ Brennen, who is now in his 23rd season at the dam.
• The Green and White have produced 15 all-region runners and one All-American under Brennen, including a program-best three All-East region men in 2024, and have had six runners qualify for the NCAA Division III cross country championships.
• Brennen has guided the Babson men to six top-3 team finishes at the NEWMAC championships, including each of the past five years. The women's program has posted back-to-back seventh-place finishes at the NEWMAC meet, just shy of the program-best sixth-place showings back in 2010-11.
HISTORY LESSON
• The Babson men totaled 83 points at last year's conference championship, which is the second lowest total in the NEWMAC era going back to 1998, trailing only the 73 points in 2024.
• The Beaver men finished with 223 points at last year's NCAA East Regionals, matching the best finish in program history with their second lowest point total.
• The women's team finished with its fourth lowest point total at the NEWMAC Championship in program history (199) last fall, behind only 2010 (152), 2011 (168) and 2018 (197).
• The Beaver women tallied 453 points at last year's NCAA Regionals, their second lowest point total in program history, behind only the 444 from 2024.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
• The Babson men are ranked sixth in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional preseason rankings.
• The Green and White trail Tufts, MIT, Bates, WPI and Colby and rank ahead of Bowdoin, Keene State, Brandeis and UMass Dartmouth in the top 10.
UP NEXT
• Babson will return to action on Saturday, September 19, at the Ellen O'Neil Invitational at Smith College, which will be the site of the NEWMAC Championships in late October.
