By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

Between last weekend and this weekend, the NCAA DI, DII and DIII Regional XC championships were held across the country with dozens of Connecticut alumni representing their teams as they tried to qualify for their national championships.

NCAA Division II East Regional Championship

Last Saturday, Southern Connecticut’s men’s and women’s team swept the NCAA DII East Regional at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds Championship Cross Country Course in New Hampshire. The men dominated by scoring 34 points to Roberts Wesleyan’s 106 while the women just squeaked out the win over Roberts Wesleyan 44-53. 

Southern Connecticut men's cross country won its fourth-straight NCAA Division II East Regional Championship while Jonathon Volpe (Naugatuck) became the first SCSU cross country runner to win an individual regional championship in program history. 

Southern placed four runners in the top six. Volpe led the way with a 32-second victory after completing the 10k course in a time of 31:02.78. He previously finished second in 2023 and third in 2022. He also finished 10th in 2021 as a freshman.

Colton Sallum (Woodstock Academy) finished third at 31:42.60 followed by John Glidden (Rockville) in fifth at 32:13.27 and Nathanael Huebner (Foran) in sixth at 32:14.26. Frankie Porrini (Bristol Central) finished 19th at 33:03.22 while Sean Barkasy (Manchester) was 27th at 33:29.65.

On the women’s side Courtney Henchcliffe (Newtown) won the 2025 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Regional to lead the Owls to their second regional championship in program history.

Henchliffe is the first SCSU women's cross country winner to win an individual regional championship in program history. The Owls captured their second regional championship in three seasons as three runners placed in the Top 10.

Henchcliffe crossed the finish line with a personal-best time of 21:29.00 for the 6k course. Other CT alums in their top five in were PJ Dauphinais (Seymour) was third at 21:46.15 and Erin Sola (Platt) was 15th in  22:58.46. 

The Owls men and women advanced to the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championships on November 22nd at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Other CT Alums included:

Men's DII 10k Race

5. Sam Fortin 32:51.5 Franklin Pierce (RHAM)

42. Jake Ferrare 34:02.2 Assumption (Holy Cross)

Women’s DII 6k Race 

31. Maya Suarez 23:57.5 Adelphi (Montville)

58. Anna Wayne 25:12.6 Southern Connecticut (Fairfield Warde)

60. Maya Fisher 25:14.7  Southern Connecticut (East Catholic)

NCAA Division I Northeast Regional Championship

The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's championships were held on Friday at the same Hopkinton Fairgrounds Championship XC Course in New Hampshire.

Leading all Connecticut alumni finishers was Fairfield’s Hannah Snayd. The sophomore is the first ever NCAA All-Region finisher for the Stags. She played soccer for Newtown and was part of the State Open 4x800m relay in 2022 but didn’t start running cross country until she arrived at Fairfield. She is also a two time MAAC champion. 

Quinnipiac’s Rachel St. Germain became the first NCAA All Region performer in 20 years for the Bobcats. The senior finished 21 in a time of 20:28.6 over the 6k course. As a senior at Somers, St. Germain was the 2021 State Open champion. She led her team to an 8th place finish, highest in program history. 

Other CT Alumni Finishers:

32 Mairead Clas Cornell 20:39.9 Yr: SR (Darien)

39 Brooke Strauss Connecticut 20:50.6 Yr: FR (Glastonbury)

52 Esme Daplyn Dartmouth 20:59.2 Yr: SO (Greenwich)

82 Emily Mrakovcic Brown 21:21.6 Yr: SR (Wilton)

94 Kelley Macelhiney Bryant 21:28.6 Yr: JR (Glastonbury)

117 Ava Malagisi Columbia 21:46.4 Yr: FR (Ridgefield)

158 Kayla Ondy Bryant 22:17.9 Yr: SR (Immaculate)

170 Alexis Buskey Stony Brook 22:26.8 Yr: SO (E.O. Smith)

174 Julia Zydanowicz Marist 22:31.0 Yr: SO (Hall)

184 Lillian Tabellione Central Connecticut 22:38.6 Yr: FR (Portland)

185 Adriana Franzese Sacred Heart 22:39.5 Yr: JR (Shelton)

187 Mia Carbone New Hampshire 22:41.7 Yr: SO (Maloney)

212 Kaylee Gravel Central Connecticut 23:17.0 Yr: JR (East Hampton)

217 Ryann Walsh Sacred Heart 23:22.0 Yr: FR (Watertown)

226 Hannah Donzella Hofstra 23:30.6 Yr: FR (Windsor)

237 Isabelle Mondo Central Connecticut 23:46.0 Yr: JR (RHAM)

Men’s NCAA DI Northeast Regional Championships

On the men’s side Griffin Mandirola, who competed for UConn last year and transferred to Cornell, finished 17th for All Regional honors and covered the 10k course in 29:44.4. While running for Suffield High, he finished 2nd at the State Open his junior year and 4th his senior year. 

Also earning All Region honors was UMass Lowell senior Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger. The RiverHawk took 24th in 30:09.3. As a high school senior for Hale-Ray he won the Class S state championship.

Other CT Alumni Finishers:

35 Nico Boyle Northeastern 30:21.8 SO (North Haven)

60 Magnus Manley Yale 30:42.0 Yr: FR (Ridgefield)

72 Jackson Cayward Siena 30:53.0 JR (Tolland)

77 Aidan Budge Central Connecticut 30:55.2  JR (Newtown)

102 Mark Rodriguez Central Connecticut 31:10.8 (Cromwell)

112 Nate Deangelo UMass Lowell 31:19.5 Yr: SO (Bristol Central)

116 Salvatore Masciarelli Central Connecticut 31:23.8 Yr: SR (Marianapolis Prep)

120 Ryan Gruczka Northeastern 31:28.1 Yr: JR (Stonington)

169 Joshua Lesniak New Hampshire 32:05.0 Yr: SR (Xavier)

170 Luke Stoeffler Buffalo 32:05.2 SR (Tolland)

173 Ryan Pereira Stonehill 32:07.1 Yr: JR (Danbury)

177 Michael Kraszewski Central Connecticut 32:09.3 Yr: SO (Hale-Ray)

183 John (Jack) Larkin Holy Cross 32:14.3 Yr: SO (Xavier)

189 Isaac Mahler Boston University 32:22.1 Yr: SO (Hall)

211 Shepard Livingston Quinnipiac 32:50.3 Yr: FR (Bolton)

218 Tyler Deme Quinnipiac 32:58.5 Yr: FR (Sheehan)

234 Michael Strain Quinnipiac 33:22.0 Yr: JR (Griswold)

257 Harjaap Singh Sacred Heart 34:42.0 Yr: SO (Trumbull)

Women’s Division I Southeast Regional

Katie Bohlke was a Footlocker qualifier and State Open champion for Newington in high school and finished 16th for Virginia Tech. The sophomore finished in a time of 19:53.6 for 6000m to earn All Region honors. 

Men’s Division I Southeast Regional Championship

32 Nicholas Bendtsen SR Virginia 30:27.1 (Wolcott)

Women’s Division I Mid Atlantic Regional Championship

Another local athlete to earn All Region honors was Penn State’s Claire Daniels who took 14th. The junior from New Milford ran 19:54.7 and helped her team to a 3rd place finish. She is no stranger to high level running as she helped her team to a State Open and New England title her senior year. 

Men’s NCAA DI Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship

Michael Bohlke broke the George Washington school record in the 10k at regionals and claimed All-Region status with a 18th place finish in a time of 30:16.7. As a senior at Newington High, he finished 4th at the State Open and 24th at Eastbay National Cross Country Championships.

Just missing All Region status was Steven Hergenrother who helped Princeton to the team championship with a 31st place finish in a time of 30:35.0. At Ridgefield he won two State Open titles and led his team to back to back titles. 

Other CT Alumni Finishers 10k:

62 Carver Morgan American 31:17.9  Yr: Sr 

121 David Carillo Bucknell 32:15.6

The NCAA Division I National Championships will be held next Sat, Nov 22nd in Columbia, Missouri.  Here is the link to the automatic qualifiers

NCAA DIII East Regional Championships 

Hopkinton Fairgrounds, Hopkinton, NH 

Senior Kate Sanderson led teammate Rujuta Sane across the finish line for the victory in 21:20.1 to lead the No. 3 ranked MIT women's cross country team to a second place finish at NCAA Division III East Regional Championships on Saturday. This is the first time that MIT has not claimed the East Regional title since the NCAA's 10-region realignment was put into effect in 2021 as Tufts won over MIT by a 51 to 61 point margin. MIT withheld their 3-4-5 runners in planning to defend their 2024 national title next weekend at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Sanderson was in the lead by the 4k mark of the 6k race and never relinquished her position, pulling away over the final 2k to win in 21:20.1 earning her fourth time as an All-Region honoree. As a senior at Hall high school in 2021, Sanderson placed 5th in the LL and 12th in the Open championships.