DUDLEY, Mass. (10/27/2026) - The Nichols College men's and women's cross country programs are set to compete at the Conference of New England (CNE) Championship this Saturday, October 31st. The meet will be hosted by the University of Hartford on their home site of Keney Park, with the women starting the race first for a noon start shortly followed by the men at 1:00 PM.
Nichols opened the season at the University of Hartford Invitational on September 12. On the men's side, senior Patrick Bergin finished 49th in the 5K with a personal-best time of 17:46.4, while junior Chad Moffat followed in 56th at 17:59.1, also recording a personal best. The meet provided an early opportunity for the Bison's younger runners, including freshmen Alexander Drown, Samuel Kelley, Kymani Bailey and Xavier Cavanaugh, to gain collegiate experience. For the women, junior Lixion Koulmbai finished 53rd in the 3K with a time of 13:34.5, while freshman Chaselyn Flaherty placed 77th in 15:37.1 in her collegiate debut.
The Bison continued their progress at the 55th Annual Pop Crowell Invitational on September 19, where the men's team secured a third-place finish with 103 points. Nichols finished just six points behind runner-up Emerson, marking the program's best team finish since the 2023 season. Bergin led the way with a 10th-place finish in the 8K at 28:00.5, while Moffat finished 11th in 28:03.1. Both runners established personal records while placing inside the top 11. Koulmbai delivered a standout performance for the women's team, finishing 27th in the 6K with a time of 27:40.8. The mark represented the fastest time by a Nichols women's cross country runner since 2019 and surpassed her previous personal record of 27:47.37, set at the 2024 CNE Championship. Flaherty also competed in the 6K, finishing 36th in 30:47.8.
Nichols returned to competition at the Keene State Invitational on October 3, facing a competitive field of 31 teams. Moffat paced the men's squad with a 131st-place finish in the 8K at 28:01.0, while Bergin crossed the line in 28:49.8. Drown and Kelley also gained valuable experience against a deep collegiate field as the Bison continued preparing for the championship portion of their schedule.
The Bison most recently competed at the Western New England Golden Bear Invitational on October 17. The men's team finished 12th overall with 326 points, led by Moffat's 26th-place finish in 28:26.7. Bergin followed in 30th at 28:38.7, establishing another personal record, while Kelley clocked 32:22.8 to improve his previous 8K personal best by 43.2 seconds. Drown, Bailey and Cavanaugh also competed for Nichols. On the women's side, Koulmbai led the way with a 99th-place finish in the 6K at 29:25.5, while Flaherty placed 121st in 31:22.4, recording a personal best.
As the Bison prepare for the CNE Championships, Bergin and Moffat will look to build on their consistent performances and personal-record finishes, while Nichols' younger runners aim to translate their season-long development into strong championship results. Koulmbai enters the women's race following a record-setting performance earlier in the season, while Flaherty looks to continue her improvement after establishing a new personal best at Western New England.
Lili Maunsell, Alanna Siqueira, and Kassandra Pena will make their cross country debuts at the meet, opening the opportunity for women's cross country to score as a team in the championship for the first time since 2019.
