Brian Stankiewicz '17 was named Head Coach of the men's and women's cross country programs at Saint Anselm College on Feb. 22, 2018. He enters his ninth season with the squad in 2026.
The Hawks hosted the 2025 NE10 Championship right here on the Hilltop, the first time since 2021, with the women placing fourth and the men placing eighth. Senior Cara Morris and freshman Jill Olson both earned spots on the NE10 All-Conference Second Team, while junior Sophia Olsen earned NE10 All-Conference Third Team honors. Olson was also named the Northeast 10 Conference Rookie of the Year. Olson became just the second athlete in program history to earn the honor and the first since 2000, when Erin Thorpe '04, a member of the Saint Anselm Hall of Fame Class of 2023, was recognized with the same award.
The team was ranked in the USTFCCCA East Region top-eight from the preseason, to the final rankings, reaching as high as fourth in the East. The women's season concluded at the NCAA DII East Regional Championship, where the team placed seventh. The men placed eighth at the NE10 Championship before finishing 13th at the East Regional. Seniors Christian Wetzel and Neil Harrington earned NE10 All-Conference Third Team honors with the team reaching as high as No. 6 in the USTFCCCA regional rankings.
The 2024 season saw another historic individual performance from a member of the women's cross country team, with junior Anyelina Martinez finishing in first place at the Northeast 10 Championship Meet, becoming the first ever Hawk to take home the individual title. As a team, Saint Anselm took home third place out of 11 teams. Martinez captured All-NE10 First Team honors, while seniors Nora Conway and Ava O'Donnell were Second Team selections.
After a seventh place finish at the NCAA Division II East Regional, the women saw two of their own be named to USTFCCCA All-Region team, seniors Conway and O'Donnell. The men's team finished in ninth place at the NE10 Championship with sophomore Adam Holodowski notching All-NE10 Third Team recognition. The men then had a program-best finish at the NCAA Division II East Region Championship, placing 12th.
In 2023, the men's team placed ninth at the NE10 Championship race and 14th at the NCAA DII East Regional, while the women placed fifth at the conference championship followed by an impressive seventh place finish at the East Regional race. Junior Nora Conway captured NE10 All-Conference Second Team honors while senior Jane Harrington, and junior Ava O'Donnell earned Third Team recognition.Â
The 2022 season included a historic individual campaign from junior Jane Harrington, who became just the fourth woman in Hawks program history to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championship after a seventh place finish at the NCAA DII East Regional Championship race. Harrington was also named to the USTFCCCA East All-Region Team and after a sixth place finish at the NE10 Championship race, she was named to the NE10 All-Conference First Team, the first for the Hawks since 2019. Sophomore Nora Conway also made the NE10 All-Conference Third Team. As a team, the women's squad placed third in the conference and fifth in the region, and were ranked as high as fourth in the East throughout the season.
After a canceled 2020 season, the Hawks came back in the fall of 2021 where the women's program placed fourth at the NE10 Championship followed by an eighth place finish at the NCAAÂ Division II East Regionals. Senior Dominique Engle was named to the NE10 All-Conference Third Team following the race. On the men's side, the Hawks placed 11th at the NE10 championship and 13th at the NCAA DII Regionals.
He helped Saint Anselm reach greater heights in 2019 as the men's and women's programs excelled throughout the season. The Hawks women took fifth out of 23 teams at the NCAA Division II East Regionals with the men's program logging its best finish since 2007, finishing 14th out of 26 teams. The women's team was ranked as high as fourth in the East Region, according to the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches' Association.Â
Competing in the Northeast 10 Conference Championship in 2019, the Saint Anselm women's program took third place as a team and were the only squad to feature two freshmen finishing within the top-15. Stankiewicz also guided a dramatic improvement with the men's team, who logged its first top-10 finish since 2010.
The 2018 season saw great success for both the men's and women's teams at Saint Anselm. The men's squad recorded its best finish at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship in over a decade while the women's program finished ninth out of 27 teams, its first time in the top-10 since the 2011 season. The Hawks women were also regionally ranked during the season.
Stankiewicz served as the interim head coach for both programs in 2017 and guided the Hawks to impressive results. The men's program recorded a 12th place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Oct. 22 while the women's squad finished ninth in a crowded field of 15 programs. Both finishes were the highest for each team since the 2010 season.
The men's team also returned to the NCAA Regionals in 2017 after a year's hiatus and the women's program secured its best finish at the regionals since a 14th place team finish in 2015. Senior Shannon Conley also claimed her fourth All-Region nod after crossing the line in 14th place, recording a 6K time of 23:33.6.
Stankiewicz graduated from Saint Anselm in 2017 with a degree in accounting and was a member of the men's cross country team for each of his four years on the Hilltop. He was a team captain as both a junior and senior and ran in 24 races for the Hawks over his four-year career.
He earned Dean's List and NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition in all eight of his semesters on the Hilltop. He also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and took an active leadership role as a class senator for Saint Anselm student government.
