SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's and women's cross country teams are set for the 2026 Liberty League Championships this weekend, hosted by Bard College at Montgomery Place on Saturday.
The men's race features five regionally ranked teams in the most recent USTFCCCA Mideast and Niagara Regional rankings, led by nine-time defending champion and USTFCCCA #8 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
First-year
Brody Richardson has crossed the finish line first for the Union men in all five races this year and has earned Liberty League Rookie of the Week honors three times already this season. He started the year with top-five finishes at Bard and Vassar, including the fastest 6K time (19:23.2) by a first-year in program history at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational, and has recorded two of the top-five 8K times in program history already this season as well, led by a program-record 24:37.4 finish at the RPI Fairgrounds Showdown. The team has received contributions from several other runners so far this season, with sophomore
Cole Lewek the only other Garnet Charger to place in the top-five at all five meets. Senior
Bretton Garrick, who was the team's top finisher in every race last season, has returned to score in each of the last three races and posted the team's second-fastest time at the Connecticut College Invitational last time out, while senior
Ben Pistiner and first-year
Alex Bonnette both look to make an impact on the team score this weekend as well.
The women's race also features five regionally ranked teams in the most recent USTFCCCA Mideast and Niagara Regional rankings, including three-time defending champion and USTFCCCA #18 Vassar College.
Senior
Annabel Dobash has been the women's top finisher in all five races so far this season, including a runner-up run of 20:03.0 at Montgomery Place earlier this year at the 5K Fred Pavlich Invitational. She also cracked the school's all-time 6K top-10 list on September 26 at the RPI Fairgrounds Showdown, crossing the line in 21:46.7 to place fifth on the all-time list. Sophomore
Eilis Mckenna finished sixth in 20:34.8 at the Fred Pavlich Invite in September and has been the team's second finisher in every race this season, while first-year
Lily Harrow has been a consistent top-three finisher for the Garnet Chargers in her first collegiate season and sophomore
Kate Monaco has been a scorer at all five races in 2026 as well.
The women's 6K race is slated to begin at 11 a.m. with the men's 8K set for noon.
