XC Meet Information

Meet Information

2024 New England Cross Country Championships

Date: CHANGED TO FRIDAY OCTOBER 11

Location: Hopkinton Fairgrounds
Hopkinton, N.H.

GPS Address:

BLUE GATE
539 Park Ave
Hopkinton, NH 03229

Live Results: TBA

Time Schedule:

Due to an unavoidable issue with the park scheduling, we have just been notified that the course will NOT BE AVAILABLE ON SATURDAY.

As a result, we have no choice but to move the meet to Friday, October 11.

We will now run the following schedule on FRIDAY OCTOBER 11:

WOMEN’S 5K CHAMPIONSHIP 3:45PM
MEN’S 8K CHAMPIONSHIP 4:30PM
There will be NO OPEN RACE!

Past Championships:

Past Championship Results with Historical References by Larry Newman

Entry/Registration:

Entries will be on Direct Athletics. Entries have been extended to 6PM Wednesday October 9.

Payment:

Please pay Member Dues before attending the meet. Pay your dues here.
After registration closes, we will provide you with a link to pay due XC Entries based on number of entries.
Entry fees will be charged based on what is in the system at 6pm on 10/9 so you will NOT be charged entry fees if you are not able to attend the meet provided you remove your entries by 6pm Wednesday.

Course Maps:

Results:

Results from previous years can be found here. Results will be posted on Lancer Timing.

Awards:

Team Plaques will be awarded immediately following conclusion of men's race. Top 3 teams in each championship race should plan to attend to receive their awards. Individual medals will be handed out at the finish.

Athletic Trainers:

Franklin Pierce University is providing Athletic Trainers.

Parking:

Team busses will be directed to park in the small lot next to the entrance.
Only team vans and officials will be allowed to park in the inside parking lot (while space is available).

Bathrooms:

Public urination is strictly prohibited. Additional Porta Poties have been reserved this year to avoid any issues.

Important Information to Coaches and Team Staff:

Numbers and pins may be picked up at the trailer. Starting position will be listed in the program. The #1 position is adjacent to the road.
Inform your runners to run through the finish and not raise their arms to stop their watch. We will be using chips and watches will affect them.
Water and ice will be available at finish line.
Trainers will be on scene.
Public urination is illegal and strictly forbidden. Athletes are to use portable toilets. Use only assigned toilets. There will be plenty of portable toilets provided.
You will be notified if rosters have not been received.

Other Items:

New this year: We will have QR codes posted near the entrance for spectators and fans to make a Suggested Admission/Donation of $5 each. Funds will be used to enhance the championship experience at all of our meets for student-athletes, fans and coaches.

Championship History

The 110th Annual New England Cross Country Championship, and the 18th combined men’s and women’s New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championship. The first men’s championship was contested in Brookline, Mass. In 1912, Dartmouth took home the team championship and Norman Taber of Brown was the first individual champion. In 1914, the meet moved to Franklin Park where it has been contested to this day, with a few exceptions. The first women championship took place in 1975, where there host UMass Amherst won the team title. In 2006, history was made as UMass Lowell won the team title, becoming the first Division II team to win. The River Hawks won again in 2008 and 2009. In 2017 Stonehill College became the second Division II to win the Men's title, while New Hampshire women won their second consecutive title. In 2018, UMass/Amherst won its first title since 1987. The Boston College women won their second consecutive title and 7th overall since 1997.

The First Men's Championship Race
(1912)

NEICAAA Men’s XC Championships
November 16, 1912
Larz Anderson Park, Brookline, MA
45 Finishers

Some twenty-five years after hosting their first outdoor championships in 1887, the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) hosted their first cross country championships at Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, Ma. on November 16, 1912 A total of seven New England schools answered the call to the 4.6 mile “Over Hill and Dale” challenge in mid-November. The spectator-friendly course began and finished at Technology Field (MIT), but encompassed much of Larz Anderson Park in Brookline and the area of Jamaica Pond. The course décor consisted of long straightaways, hard road, challenging short, steep hills, rough field marsh and meadows that greeted the entrants. Following a highly successful performance at the Stockholm Olympic Games in the Summer of 1912, between his junior and senior year, Brown University senior Norman S. Taber was crowned the first NEICAAA Cross Country champion that Fall, defeating a field of 45 contestants. Taber, who won a Bronze medal (1500 meters) and Gold (3000meter team race) at the Olympic Games, won with a time of 25:31.2, defeating runner-up H.T. Ball of Dartmouth by over six seconds. Post collegiately, Taber would go on to set the world record in the mile of 4:12 3/5 at Harvard on July 16, 1915. Behind Ball, Dartmouth runners finished 3-4-5 and 21st to capture the team title over Brown, 35-50. Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished third with 82 points.

The First Women's Championship Race
(1975)

NEICAAA Women’s XC Championships
November 2, 1975
UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA
40 Finishers

The first official NEICAAA women’s cross country championships were held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on November 2, 1975. Tufts University senior, Kathy Whitcomb, won by over a minute with a course record time of 17:57. She was followed across the line by Jane Welzel (UMass Amherst) and Jean Crane (Vermont). Finishing forth was Julie LaFreniere, now in her 33rd year as Director of Women’s Track & Field and Cross Country at UMass Amherst. LaFreniere was the second-place finisher for the Minutemen, who won the team title with 36 points, defeating runner up, Williams College with 51 points. Vermont finished in third place with 58 points. A total of four teams scored and seven additional teams were represented, but posted incomplete scores. There were 40 individuals who finished the inaugural championship race.