EDISON, NJ –– The Metro Conference converges on Middletown, New York, on Halloween for the 2026 Metro Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, the 46th running of the men's championship and 43rd edition of the women's championship. 2026 marks the first year the championships will be held at the Blue Sky Sports Complex, while Manhattan hosts for a Conference-record 32nd time.
The men's 8k championship race will begin at 11 AM ET, followed by the women's 6k championship at noon ET.
Click here or the link above for live results.
Both preseason favorites –– 35-time defending champion Iona on the men's side and four-time defending champion Quinnipiac on the women's side –- will look to make their presence known in Saturday's championship races. The Gaels, winners of a record 39 conference titles all-time, placed all five of their scoring runners in the top 10 at last year's championship, while 11 Iona student-athletes were named to the All-Championship Team (top 15 finishers).
Last year's Most Outstanding Runner Matt Rankin exhausted his eligibility, while the second-place finisher, Iona's Baptiste Cartieaux, returns for unfinished business in 2026. Cartieaux's time of 24:12.1 was less than a second behind Rankin in a true photo-finish. Three of Iona's top 10 finishers return in 2026 (Cartieaux, Ollie Boltz and Billy Coogan).
The gap between finishers one-to-seven in last year's men's 8k race was less than eight-tenths of a second.
Iona is currently ranked No. 4 in the USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Rankings.
On the women's side, preseason favorite Quinnipiac looks to win the Bobcats' fifth straight Metro crown and sixth all-time. A new-look Quinnipiac squad, eight of the Bobcats' 15 student-athletes are first years or sophomores. Five Bobcats finished inside the top 15 a season ago, paced by bronze medalist Sierra Gray.
The 2025 Most Outstanding Runner, Fairfield's Hannah Snayd, looks to defend her back-to-back individual medalist titles. Snayd is the first Fairfield women's cross country student-athlete to win an individual title.
Iona's women's team enters the weekend ranked No. 12 in the USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Rankings after cracking the top 10 a week ago.
NCAA regionals take place on Friday, Nov. 13 with the Northeast Regional held at Bethpage State Park (Bethpage, NY) and hosted by Hofstra. The 2026 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Saturday, Nov. 21, live on ESPNU. The 2026 NCAA cross country selection show will air on Saturday, Nov. 14 on NCAA.com.