The New Haven men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Saint Michael’s College in Vermont to compete in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Sunday.

Heading into the race, the men’s team was voted to finish in eight among the coaches’ pre-championship poll. They have been anchored all season by William Brown, who has routinely posted high finishes in their meets while leading the Chargers. Mohammed Abunar has been the team’s second best runner this season as well.

During the race on Sunday, Abunar broke off an impressive day. He ran to an impressive 25:56.8 in the 8K, his personal best on the season. This was good enough to earn him a 10th place finish overall, and recognition in the NE-10 All-Conference Second Team. Brown finished 22nd overall, while Jacob Carson was just behind in 31st. Christopher Bantle and James Comisky both placed in the top 60 (54th and 59th respectively), while Daniel Barberio and Dathan Chann finished 73rd and 75th. All of this together resulted in a sixth place finish for New Haven.

This was a new program best for the team, who finished 12th out of 14 teams in 2021 and 11th in 2019. Their previous best was a seventh place finish in 2013, marking this as the first time the team has broken the top-10 since then.

On the women’s side, the team finished in ninth place with a pair of higher finishers. Alexandra Kenealy was the team’s highest finisher, coming in 17th overall with a time of 23:51.2. Isabella Bostic crossed the finish line second on the team, with a 21st place finish (23:56.8) just seconds behind Kenealy. The two of them both earned All-Conference Third Team honors as well.

Rounding out the team was a trio of finishers in Elsie Kaas (54th), Da-Xia Colon (57th) and Hannah Swain (62nd). Rina Stanghellini and Ashley Jones were the team’s final finishers, coming in 71st and 81st respectively.

The ninth place finish as a team marks an improvement over last year’s performance when they came in 11th.

The season is not yet over though as they move on to the NCAA East Region Championship set in Bethpage, N.Y. The race is scheduled for Nov. 19, with races starting at noon. More information can be found at NewHavenChargers.com.