NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — 

Senior captain Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.) finished in 14th place to lead the U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's cross country team to a fourth-place effort at the 2026 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Saturday afternoon at Smith College.

Nationally-ranked MIT won the meet, with the #10 Engineeris totaling 25 points to claim their 28th consecutive NEWMAC title. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who entered the day ranked 25th, took second with 59 points behind a race-winning effort from graduate student Everett Mosher. Finishing ahead of Coast Guard with 66 points was Babson College.

Fant crossed the finish line in 25:31.5 to claim the second All-Conference honors of his career. Freshman Jake Hanson (Lexington, Ky.) followed him in 23rd at 26:05.0, with junior James Kuduk (Harleysville, Pa.) finishing in 27th overall at 26:16.9

Freshman Cornelius Cummings (Annville Township, Pa.) was the fourth Bear to finish, crossing in 26:17.1 for 28th. Sophomore Evan Rimmele (Red Bank, N.J.) was 36th overall at 26:38.6, immediately followed by classmate Dylan Reed (Tampa, Fla.) at 26:40.6 for 37th. Fellow sophomore Graham Fenn (Annapolis, Md.) rounded out Coast Guard's scorers with his time of 26:47.7 for 40th.

Full results for the 2026 NEWMAC Men's Cross Country Championship can be viewed here. Coast Guard men's cross country will return next Saturday, November 7th, to compete in Connecticut College's D3 Challenge junior varsity meet.

After that, the varsity squad will look to extend their season with a good performance at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship on Saturday, November 14th, at Wickham Park in Manchester.