Dean College Cross Country: Season in Review
- Jack Ruderman
- Nov 6
- 4 min read
As the season comes to an end for Dean College’s cross-country team, there have been plenty of good moments and average times for them to face.
They recently competed in the 2025 Great Northeast Athletic Conference's (GNAC) championship race at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont this past weekend on Sunday November 2nd. Overall, this group of Bulldogs has developed plenty of character, grit, and potential through all of the hurdles that come along with the challenge of being the best version of yourself.
Most importantly, two new coaches that have taken over the helm for this hard-working program are basketball assistant coach Jackson Garner and Kyle Perry ‘25 who competed for Dean’s XC team as a student-athlete himself.
Leading up to the first race of the season at the University of Hartford Invitational at Kenney Park in West Hartford, CT there was a lot of uncertainty that lingered in the air. With that being a 5k event for the men, the course was challenging to overcome due to the grassy and hilly elements that presented themselves for all the runners. For the women, they had to run a 3k race equaling about 1.8 miles for one lap around the field. New faces that debuted for the men’s side of the program include Dan Duggan, Eidan Toppa, Christopher Rosner, and Semar Flugence. For the women were Olivia Cooper and Charlotte Greico.
For the second race at the Elms College Invitational in Chicopee, MA, the summer heat had begun to fade away with fall. Now the hardest part of the race was in full view because for the men, the course upgraded to an 8k which is almost 5 miles in length. In that group, more new faces joined the team, they were Brandon Fitzsimmons, Spencer Waite, and Gary Burgess. Then for the women they had to face double the distance of going from a 3k to now a 6k which is 3.7 miles long around the park.
The next meet that happened in Cape Cod was nothing but witnessing land and sea colliding with each other with the harsh breeze. The race was the Travis J Fuller Invitational hosted by Mass Maritime Academy. All that was standing between the runners, and their performance was a pavement trail that featured flatness and views of the Bourne Bridge which is a seasonal icon for year-round glory. From what happened along the trail, the performance was blown out of the water by most of the performers who did the best that they could on this day.
After going through the bye week, the program was ready for a GNAC championship rematch out of Norwich University in Northfield, VT for the Cadet Invitational. However, because of an unexpected delay that happened with Emmanuel College in Boston, MA, there had to be plenty of waiting and patience. Even if the summer heat was too much to handle, it was still a beautiful day to run in crystal clear skies along the natural scenery. Despite the challenging terrain of finding ground and maintaining balance, the course was a great task to check off. Even if the summer heat was too much to handle, it was still a beautiful day to run in clear skies along the natural scenery.
In order to keep the season alive for the women’s team, Jackson Garner had been contemplating about adding another race or letting everyone leave for the long Columbus Day weekend. The answer to prevent some sort of disqualification from either team was to compete at the Hopkinton Cross Country Festival in Hopkinton, NH. During the nice fall afternoon, competition was beginning to heat up with some of the best Division Three and Division Two schools in the New England area. A few institutions to be named were Babson College, Franklin-Pierce University, and Emerson College. As the runners were rounding the corners and taking advantage of the hilly elements on the course, there was this hidden drive to finish the race.
The last regular season event at Western New England University was built with anticipation and excitement for most of the runners all week-long in the middle of October. Even if nerves were flaring up, there was absolutely no reason to panic because with a total of 22 schools competing the confidence was sky high for the team to do the best that they could.
When the month of November was rounding the corner, one of the athletes Ryan Fowler, a junior on the team, had some exciting words to say about the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship race that recently took place at Norwich University. He repeatedly said the entire time leading up from each practice that he would “murder this course” and the race would be a “nothingburger” which means easy.
With the team working hard for both sides, the experience was quite exhilarating to cross through the hills, muddy puddles, and cheering fans along the outdoor sidelines on a chilly Sunday afternoon. As a result of the organization’s efforts, the men placed 6th out of 7th place ahead of Colby-Sawyer College while the women earned 8th out of 9th place over Mitchell College to cap off an unbelievable season that will always be remembered as an important mark in Bulldogs athletics.
