SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 5, 2026) – Western New England men's cross country runner Lucas Franco has been honored by the Conference of New England (CNE) this week, being named Runner of the Week following an impressive race this past weekend at Keene State College. 

Franco and the Golden Bears took 19^th place overall at the past weekend's Keene State Invitational, led by Franco's run, which was a career-best 8K performance. The WNE sophomore finished in 65^th place overall at the event, running the course in 26:44.7, breaking his previous best time of 27:16, set the weekend before at UMass-Dartmouth. Franco shaved off over 30 seconds of time from his previous career-best. Franco's mark now sits second-best in WNE men's cross country history, just 14 seconds behind WNE alum Matt Provost, who now holds the top time set in 2024 following a historic season.

Franco will look to set a new career best for the third consecutive week this coming Saturday, October 10, when the Golden Bears travel a short distance to Westfield State University for the James Earley Invitational.