MIDDLETOWN, NY – Iona ended Quinnipiac’s five-year run atop the Conference, capturing the 2026 Metro Conference Women’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Blue Sky Sports Complex, which hosted the Conference championships for the first time. The Gaels scored 23 points to claim their 17th conference women’s title and first since 2021, while the Bobcats finished second with 67. Iona has won seven team titles in the last 11 years.

Fairfield junior Hannah Snayd won the individual title and 2026 Women’s Most Outstanding Runner honors in her first race of the season after returning from injury. Snayd finished the 6K course in 21:25.2, more than six seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Iona placed all five of its scoring runners in the top eight and had five in the top 15 to earn All-Championship Team honors. Sofia Lumbreras led the Gaels as the silver medalist (21:31.5), followed by bronze medalist Kiera Atkinson (21:34.1), Alex Schulz in fourth place (21:37.3), Muireann Duffy in sixth place (21:45.1) and Kayleigh Atkinson in eighth place (21:52.2).

Quinnipiac’s Zoe Merryman was fifth (21:41.3) to lead the Bobcats, who also put Maddie O’Neil (13th) and Avery Palmucci (15th) on the All-Championship Team. Marist and Rider each scored 118 points, with Marist taking third on the tiebreaker. Rounding out the All-Championship Team were Rider’s Liz Fis (seventh), Niagara’s Alexa Briggs (ninth), Sacred Heart’s Emma Daley (10th), Marist’s Abigail Kowalczyk (11th) and Emily Litke (14th), and Manhattan’s Bailee Christofis (12th).

The 2026 Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year was Alex Schulz from Iona. She was joined on the All-Rookie Team by Kadence Williams (Quinnipiac), Helena Szep (Marist), Ashley Doyle (Rider) and Sofia Holovatska (Quinnipiac).

Full results for the 2026 Metro Conference Women’s Cross Country Championship can be found here.