MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — 

United States Coast Guard Academy women's cross country junior Brooke Hunter (Phillipsburg, N.J.) has been tabbed by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference as a "Runner to Watch" for the upcoming season, as announced in a release by the conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Hunter was Coast Guard's consistent #3 runner during her sophomore season of 2025. She was an All-NEWMAC honoree last year after finishing 19th overall at 23:11.1 in the league championship race, and ran 23:04.6 two weeks layer for 39th at the NCAA's Division III Mideast Regional to help the Bears place sixth overall in the team standings.

The junior put forth her best performance of the season at Lehigh University's Paul Short Invite, running a personal best of 22:18.1 to finish 51st overall. The Paul Short time currently sits seventh on the program's all-time leaderboard heading into the season.

The NEWMAC's full women's cross country "Runners to Watch" release can be viewed here. Hunter and the Bears women's cross country team will open their 2026 campaign on September 12th, staying in-state for Trinity College's George Suitor Invite at Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut.