PITMAN, N.J. – Off the back of another dominant performance at the NJAC Cross Country Championship, the TCNJ men's cross country squad swept the conference major awards and had six runners honored with All-NJAC nods.
 
Joshua Santiago earned Runner of the Year honors after winning the conference championship race with a time of 24:37. His time was over 20 seconds ahead of second place, and he led a dominant showing in which the squad logged just 22 points.
 
Will Nelson was named Rookie of the Year after finishing as the fastest freshman in the competition. Nelson finished fifth overall and as TCNJ's third runner across the finish line. Nelson adds another NJAC honor to his early career; he was named Rookie of the Week twice and Runner of the Week once by the conference.
 
Head coach Justin Lindsey and his staff of Michael Walker, Lucia Garcia-Beltran, Salini Iyer, and Abigail Pfaff were voted Coaching Staff of the Year by the conference's head coaches. Under their guidance, the men's cross country team earned both the individual and team conference championships for a second consecutive year. 2026 also marked the second straight year in which the team had 22 points in the championship meet.
 
The Lions had five First Team runners in total: Santiago, Nelson, Phil Pace, Simon Bernhardt, and Sean Haggerty. For Pace, this year marked the second straight campaign earning a First Team nod. Pace placed third overall and was TCNJ's second runner behind Santiago. Bernhardt and Haggerty notched their first career all-conference honors; they finished sixth and seventh respectively.
 
Moksh Patwari, with his eight-place finish at the conference championship, picked up a Second Team All-NJAC honor. This is his second career all-conference nod, having been named to the First Team in 2025.