SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 15, 2025) – The Conference of New England (CNE) office has announced their Athletes of the Week for the week of October 6, 2025. Lucas Franco lands on the list as the Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week after a standout performance in Westfield, Massachusetts, this past weekend.

Lucas Franco has been named the Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week for the Conference of New England. This comes after a top-tier performance from Franco at the James Earley Invitational, hosted by Westfield State on October 11, 2025. The Ludlow, Massachusetts native picked up his fourth-best time of the season in four attempts on Saturday, with a blistering time of 27:52.06. Franco beat his previous season-best time by over three seconds and placed second for the Golden Bears. Franco also placed 35th in a field that had 193 runners in the 8k. After that performance, Franco has now earned two Rookie of the Week awards this season and looks to build up his resume with this weekend's home meet.

Franco and the Golden Bears will host the Western New England Invitational this Saturday, October 18, 2025, on the WNE campus. The women's 6k will begin at 10:00 AM, and the men's 8k will begin at 11:00 AM.