No. 11 Men's Cross Country Wins NCAA DIII East Regional Championship

HOPKINTON, N.H. – First year Sam Hansen finished in fourth place to lead the No. 11 MIT men's cross country team to victory at the 8k 2025 NCAA Division III East Regional Championships on Saturday at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds.

Trailing Tufts in the team standings through the 6k mark, the Engineers took over in the final 2k, finishing with five runners in the top 13 to clinch an automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Spartanburg, S.C.

THE BASICS:

Winning Team Score: MIT, 20 points
Top Finisher: Paulino Guevara Mateo, Fitchburg State (24:31.6)
Top MIT Finisher: Sam Hansen, 4th place (24:35.8)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The top six in the field was separated by just six seconds, with Hansen finishing in 24:35.8, just behind regional champion Paulino Guevara Mateo of Fitchburg State (24:31.6).
Junior Yichen Sun and senior Jake Cobb joined Hansen in the top-ten, finishing in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Sun was with the lead group, finishing in 24:37.7, while Cobb was a few seconds back with a time of 24:43.5.
Dylan Fiegener was the second MIT rookie to earn All-Region accolades, taking 12th place in 25:00.8. Sophomore Landon Hering was the final MIT scoring runner in 13th place with an All-Region time of 25:01.5.
Sophomore Owen Sondag was 27th (25:52.6) and senior Nate Martinez was 58th (26:22.6) to complete the top seven for the Engineers.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

MIT has won every East Regional title since the NCAA's 10-region realignment was put into effect in 2021.
Sun is now a three-time All-Region honoree (2023, 2024).
Cobb claimed the second All-Region nod of his career (2023).
Hansen, the 2025 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, Fiegener and Hering each earned the first All-Region honors of their careers.
This year was the third straight season the race was competed at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.

USTFCCCA ALL-EAST REGION (Top 35 Finishers):