BY CAROLINE BUNNELL
Photo Credit: Stonehill Women's XC
In their first season competing as a Division I team, women’s cross country placed second at the NEC championships, after a tiebreaker with five-time NEC champion, Central Connecticut University.
“I think we made a true statement as a Division I team. We tied our program best performance at the New England Championships, and we certainly made a statement in the Northeast Conference. I’d be nervous if I was CCSU after winning a championship on a small technicality against the new team,” 5th year Becca Erhard said.
The meet was hosted by Saint Francis University at B&D Acres Course in Tyrone, Pennsylvania on Oct. 28.
Senior captain Victoria Lombardi said the course was unique.
“It was definitely tough crossing the finish line twice fore I was actually done, but the rolling hills and receptiveness played to my advantage as a long-distance athlete,” Lombardi said.
The top runners in the race for Stonehill included Emma Lawrence in 4th place, Victoria Lombardi in 6th place, Jordan Malloy in 9th place, and Becca Erhard in 11th place overall.
Erhard said that she thinks Stonehill Athletics Hall of Fame Head Coach Karen Boen was very impressed with the performance, despite losing the tie breaker.
“Coach Boen is not an easy woman to impress, but I think we impressed her that day. Even though we didn’t win the tiebreaker, the fact that we put out all into the race and didn’t give up made her so proud of us,” Erhard said.
Erhard emphasized the team’s preparedness going into the meet made them feel more confident against their opponents. Photo Credit: Stonehill Athletics
She noted that the team had been training hard all season, and knew that CCSU and LIU had strong individual runners that they had to watch out for.
“We had high expectations as a team going into the race. We knew who the teams were, what their top runners’ times were, and how they did at last year’s NEC championship. We knew it would be a tough battle, but we knew there was a high chance we could cause a big upset in the NEC rankings,” Erhard said.
With Stonehill’s reclassification period being in effect until the 2026-27 season, athletic teams are unable to compete in the NCAA postseason. However, there is an exception for cross country, track, and swimming because they are considered non-automatic qualifier sports.
For the non-automatic qualifier sports, the teams are only able to participate up to the conference championships, they are not able to compete in the NCAA championships.
Despite the season ending earlier, Erhard said that she is grateful that she has more time to recover before the indoor track season.
“Don’t get me wrong, qualifying for NCAAs was an amazing experience, but the long season takes a toll on our bodies and can cause our indoor track seasons to be delayed due to setbacks and mini-injuries,” Erhard said.
The team lost the tie-breaker after a new technicality involving comparing the place finish of the top 5 runners for each team. In previous years, the tie breaker would be decided by the place of the teams 6th place runner.
Stonehill’s 5th place runner came in 17th place, compared to CCSU’s 5th place runner who finished in 15thplace, leading them to win the tie breaker.
“I personally don’t agree with the rule because that takes away the point of having a top 7 and it makes it feel like the few runners at the very top have the most power in in an entire team winning a championship. I felt bad, wondering what the outcome could’ve been, but you can’t dwell on things that you can’t control,” Erhard said.
Lombardi spoke highly of the team’s efforts in the meet, saying she was grateful to compete alongside them.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of women and the work that they have put in this season. I am truly inspired every day by teammates, and I feel so grateful to have gotten to go through this transition with them,” Lombardi said.
Erhard echoed Lombard’s comments, saying she was extremely satisfied with the performance of the team all season.
“Cross country is all about being tough and having the grit to stay in the race because it’s so easy to give in when it hurts. It was an emotional but happy celebration of the end of the season,” Erhard said.
Photo Credit: Stonehill Women's XC