Henrico Times

Colonial Athletic Association issued the following announcement on Oct. 29

The 2021 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Cross Country Championships are set for Saturday, October 30 from Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. hosted by Northeastern University. The women’s race will begin at 10 a.m. EST, with the men’s race set for 11 a.m.

Admission to the CAA Cross Country Championships is free. To stay up to date with what is happening at the CAA Cross Country Championships, be sure to follow the CAA on Twitter (@CAASports), Instagram (@caasports) and join the conversation using the hashtag #CAACHamps. For live results, recaps and more, visit www.CAASports.com/XC.

The CAA Championships head to Boston for just the second time in championship history. The championships were also hosted by Northeastern in 2014.

The Northeastern men look to defend their 2020 title on their home course, while the Elon women are looking to complete the three-peat after winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.

The Phoenix women are looking for their third consecutive CAA Championship crown. Elon is the only team ranked in the USTFCCCA regional rankings, coming in eighth in the Southeast Region. The Phoenix return five All-CAA performers from the spring and own four of the top ten 6K times in the conference this season. Defending champion and reigning CAA Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, Maria Ahm, will toe the start line, looking to defend her title and become the fourth consecutive Phoenix runner to claim the individual crown. Ahm ran a season-best 20:38.4 at the FSU Pre-Nationals meet that ranks second in the conference this season.

James Madison finished third at the spring championships and looks to be one of the top threats to the Phoenix this season. The Dukes return the 2020 Women’s CAA Rookie of the Year Miranda Stanhope, who finished runner-up at last year’s competition. Stanhope earned CAA Women’s Runner of the Week following a season-best 20:26.3 at the Paul Short Run, which is the top 6K time in the conference this fall.

Last spring’s runner-up, Northeastern, should be among the contenders again this fall. The Huskies return their top five performers from last season. Tessa McClain paced the Huskies last year with an all-conference performance, placing sixth, and owns the eighth-fastest mark (21:30.0) in the conference this fall.

William & Mary is always amongst the top finishers at the CAA Championships. The Tribe has a young squad this season, but they have never finished lower than fourth at the CAA Championships. Kyra Holland finished third at the championship last spring and returns as the Tribe’s top performer this season. Holland has the fourth-fastest 6K performance in the CAA this season after running 21:08.8 at the Paul Short Run.

On the men’s side, the Huskies won their first title in program history last spring, ending a 20-year run of dominance by William & Mary. Northeastern and the Tribe look to be among the top contenders for the team trophy again this fall.

Northeastern ranks 14th in USTFCCCA Northeast Region, returning five all-conference honorees from last season’s championship team. Alexander Korczynski, last year’s runner-up, is the top returning competitor from the spring’s championship and owns the top 8K time in the conference this season (24:05.1).  

William & Mary student-athletes hold six of the top ten 8K times in the conference this season. The Tribe is led by Jacob Jones, three-time CAA Men’s Runner of the Week this fall. Jones ran a personal-best 24:24.6 at the Paul Short Run that ranks second in the conference this season. Spencer Tsai is looking to earn All-CAA honors for the third consecutive season after being the only Tribe member to collect all-conference accolades last year. Tsai enters the championship with the fourth-best 8K performance (24:33.3) this season.

Elon joins Northeastern as the only two programs to return multiple All-CAA honorees. Aiden Tierney and Andrew Miller lead the Phoenix, looking to earn all-conference accolades for the third straight season.

Hofstra will have to account for the loss of three-time defending champion Alex Masai, but Paul Markovina finished fourth during the spring championship and is the top returning runner for the Pride.

The top 12 men’s finishers and top 14 women’s finishers will earn All-CAA recognition. The CAA Athlete, Coach, and Rookie of the Year will be awarded for each gender following the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Original source can be found here.