Mark the date! September 6 is the day that the men and woman cross country teams start their year, right here at Saint Anselm College at the Shacklette Invitational. This preview provides background information and tells you who to look out for as this season gets underway.
After the Shacklette Invitational on Sept. 6, the next meet will be held on Sept. 20 at Umass Dartmouth. Following that, the next two will be held in Keene and Hopkinton NH, against Keene State and New England College. The meeting at Keene will be held on October. 4, and New England College will be Oct. 10. The Woman team hopes to look back on last year’s Shacklette Invitational and repeat the result. They finished first place in the 6k, running a 2:06:10, with 6 racers finishing in the top ten in the individual 6k. Historically, the men’s team has also been competitive at the Shacklette Invitational. Last year, they finished second with a time of 2:24:12, as well as 3 racers in the top ten for the individual.
Some returning runners to watch for the woman’s team are senior Isabelle Cody, who recorded a season low 5k time of 22:00 at Umass Dartmouth as a
sophomore, junior Sophia Olsen, who finished in 5th place finish at the James Earley Invite with a 6K time of 25:12 and Saint Anselm rookie of the year two years ago, and Senior Grace Perley who competed in the NE10 Conference Championship capturing a career-best 6K time of 25:02. The men also have some heavy hitters coming back as well. In his sophomore year two years ago, Senior Neil Harrington finished in the top 25 at the Shacklette Invitational posting a 31:43 8k time. Another name to look out for is Freshman Nate Dion. At his high school Bishop Feehan, Dion was the captain of not only the cross-country team, but track and field as well.
Brian Stankiewicz is starting his eighth year as the head coach of both cross-country squads in 2025. As a graduate of Saint Anselm in 2017 and cross – country athlete, Stankiewicz has already proven himself to be a very successful coach of the sport. Since taking the job in 2018, he has guided both cross country teams to very impressive results. In his first year, the men’s team recorded its best finish at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship in over a decade. The woman that year finished ninth out of twenty – seven teams and were regionally ranked that season as well. In 2019, he helped the woman take fifth place out of twenty – three teams in the NCAA Division II East regionals, while the men finished fourteen out of twenty – six. That year, the women were ranked number four. The coaching staff also includes assistant coach Sarah Panteleos, strength and conditioning coach Syerah Mulhern – Allred who is in her first season with Saint Anselm after graduating from Merrimack College with a Master of Science degree in Exercise and Sports Science in 2024, and assistant athletic trainer Coleman Reifke who is entering his second year with the college after working at Camp Wooster, which is an extreme sports camp in Pennsylvania.
These runners and coaches will look to prove themselves with a big stomp on September sixth at the Shacklette Invitational, which starts a long and hopefully successful year for everyone involved.