HOPKINTON, NH (October 9, 2026) – A quintet of sophomore runners guided the Tufts University men's cross-country team to a 12th place finish at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Championships on Friday at Hopkinton (NH) Fairgrounds.
This was the 113th running of the NEICAAA men's race, which has taken place every year since 1912 except for 1918 due to World War I and 2020 due to COVID. The event features New England Divisions I, II and III teams, though participation from Division III squads has waned in recent years. Tufts and Colby were the only DIII teams in attendance this season.
The Jumbos' five scorers today (and their times for the eight-kilometer course) were sophomores
Tadhg Murray (25:37.7),
William Burch (25:40.3),
Charlie Jacques (26:33.8),
Joey Papanicholas (26:41.9) and
Owen Staley (27:11.0). Murray in 29th place and Burch 34th were in the top 40 individually for Tufts out of 206 total runners.
Also competing today and finishing amount the Jumbo top seven were junior
Lucas Klein (27:19.7) and freshman
Liam Carrig-Braun (27:28.5).
Tufts had nine runners overall at the meet, with senior
Ryan Regan posting a 27:34.3 mark and junior
Lucas Chang finishing in a 28:08.6 time.
The Jumbos finished ahead of their conference rival Colby by a score of 293-430.
Providence College won the 2026 NEICAAA Championship at a score of 85, with close competition from Stonehill (87) and Vermont (87).
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