Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Take Pair Of Fifth Place Finishes To Open 2026 Season

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (September 5, 2026) – The Western New England men's and women's cross country teams began their regular seasons on Saturday morning at the Fred Pavlich Invitational, hosted by Bard College. Both squads churned in fifth place finished, with Lia Pouliot leading the women's side and Nicholas Smith on the men's.

Key Highlights:

Women

Nearly a full squad of Golden Bears raced on the women's side for the Blue and Gold in the morning 5K, including Lia Pouliot, who ran a 21:53.2 5K to lead WNE. Pouliot took 22^nd place in the race.
Olivia Kay's senior season began with a 22:04.4 5K race, finishing in 26^th place for Western New England.
Caitlin Reilly also took home a top-30 finish, crossing the finish line at 22:24.7, a 28^th place mark.
Western New England also saw Ava Bulmer (24:02.1), Kenna O'Brien (24:16.9), and Fallon Lynch (25:25.1) race on Saturday. WNE's efforts put them in fifth place out of 11 teams overall.

Men

Nicholas Smith finished the 5K run in an impressive 17:18.0 to lead all male Golden Bears, finishing in 23^rd place overall in the event.
Lucas Franco quickly built upon his outstanding first season, completing his first race as a sophomore in 17:28.4, a 26^th-place finish overall.
WNE's Gianni Santagata (18:27.6), Jamie Hosier (18:39.3), Jack Gibbs (18:44.5), and Pablo Tapion (18:57.3) played a key role to WNE's fifth-place finish overall at the event, clipping St. Thomas Aquinas by one point to take the finish.