Bonnies Cross Country Opens 2025 Season By Hosting Little Three Championship

The St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s cross country teams will have the opportunity to open the 2025 season on home turf as the Bonnies host the Little Three Championships for the first time in three years. 

The Bonnies will again welcome local rivals Canisius and Niagara in the 57th edition of the Little Three meet, one of the longest-running traditions in Western New York collegiate running. 

This year’s meet will also include the return of the Bonnies Alumni Race. 

The course is spectator friendly, very flat and fast, consisting of two and a half loops beginning outside the Reilly Center and winding through the McGraw-Jennings Athletics Fields and to the Allegheny River Trail before finishing back at the doorstep of the Reilly Center.

The women’s 5K starts at 10:45 a.m. while the men’s 5K begins at 11:30 a.m.  

Note: Fans arriving to campus for the Little Three Championship on Sept. 6 are asked to enter through the West Entrance and use the general public parking lots as marked in the map here.

The Bona men’s team includes seven seniors, including two who will be graduating at the end of cross country season – redshirt senior Clay Peets and grad student Drew Carlson. 

Peets will graduate as likely the top runner in Bonnies men’s cross country history, owning the program records for the 5K (15:02), 8K (24:16) and 10K (31:07). Peets did not run last fall, but he won the Little Three Championship in Buffalo’s Delaware Park back in 2023 with his course and program record time of 15:02. 

The senior class also includes Aiden Scattergood, who ranks second behind only Peets in every cross country distance while also owning a host of program track records. Scattergood placed 27th at the Atlantic 10 Championships last fall. 

Casey Malloy was a breakout success last year, placing in the team’s top-seven in every meet. Ethan Luce has also been a frequent scorer for the team during his three cross country seasons. 

Fellow seniors James Hoffman and Tyler Schott will also compete in their final home meets at the Little Three. 

Junior William McCarthy became one of the team’s top competitors last year, placing in the team’s top three in every meet with new PRs in the 5K (16:02), 8K (26:00) and 10K (33:19) while qualifying for the NCAA Northeast Regional meet along with Scattergood and Malloy. 

Joshua Lopez returns for his third Bonnies season after placing in the team scoring in all four meets he competed in last year. He placed 12th overall at last year’s Little Three and was fourth for the squad in the A-10 Championship meet. 

Fellow juniors Lucas Catarella and Matthew Ryan return after missing last cross country season due to injury. 

Sophomore Sam Tomm made his collegiate debut in last year’s Little Three Championship by finishing fourth overall (15:59). 

The sophomore class also includes Nathan Sikorski, Carter Stevens, Aiden Konetsky, Kevin Renner, Blake Wenger and Layne Haught.

Six newcomers make up Bona’s freshman class: Jack Handman, Kal Heyman, Declan McGrath, Alexander Rennick, Nate Viele and Canton Wetzel. 

Seven seniors lead the Bona women’s team into the fall.

Mia Winters placed in the team’s top-three in every meet she competed in last season, pacing the team at the NCAA Northeast Regional as well as A-10 Championship meets. She became just the second Bonnies runner to break the 22-minute barrier in the 6K with her PR of 21:55 at last season’s Gettysburg meet.

Fellow seniors Faith Caldwell and Molly Gipson also frequently rank among the team’s top-seven while Sarah Carroll, Claire Cuneo and Adria Magnusson are in their fourth seasons with the program as well. Sara Thomas joined the team last season as a transfer.

Junior Meghan Lex looks to return this season after missing all of last year following the Little Three meet due to injury. She ranked first on the team and fourth overall in last year’s Little Three and was in the team scoring in each of the squad’s meets during her freshman season. Classmate Jayne Gavin was in Bona’s top seven all but once last year and enters her third season with the program this fall.

Sophomore Miranda Habshi made an immediate impact in her debut season last year, ranking first or second on the team in every meet last year. She earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors last September, jumping to fourth individually in program history with her 6K time of 22:38 in the Lock Haven meet. 

Another second-year runner, Madison McMahon, also posted a top-15 program time of 23:24 at the A-10 Championship meet. Sophomores Sophia Bille, Alex Jensen, Madeline McKillop and Brooke Hudnall all return as well. Katelyn Wilkes, Gabriella Randazzo and Chloe Fisher all start their third Bona seasons while Elise Brooks, Kylie Paylor and Naina Slaughter ran track-only a season ago. 

Freshmen Gianna Bille, Sydney March, Lana Holt and Jillian Lozo join the program for the new academic year.

The Bonnies schedule also includes the Lock Haven Invitational (Sept. 27) before heading to Louisville, Ky. for one of the top cross country races in the nation, the Live in Lou Classic on Oct. 4. The squad stays close to home for the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton on Oct. 11 before competing in another of the region’s top events, the Aubrey Shenk Invitational Oct. 18 in Gettysburg. Atlantic 10 Championships are set for Nov. 1 in Cedarville, Ohio and the NCAA Northeast Regionals will take place Nov. 14 in Hopkinton, N.H.