Lancaster, Pa. – (11/4/2025) – With the results of the 2024 Atlantic East Conference (AEC) Men's Cross Country Championship in the books, Gwynedd Mercy University senior Sebastian DeSimone (West Orange, N.J.) and freshman Conner Brennan (Hatboro, Pa.) are among the 14 student-athletes officially named to the 2025 All-AEC Men's Cross Country Team and Major Award Winners today. Both Griffins earned All-AEC Second Team status for their finishes at the championship; Brennan placed eighth with a time of 29:35.5 and DeSimone placed 11^th with a time of 31:21.7.
 
The All-AEC Men's Cross Country Team honors the races' Top-14 finishers with first seven earning All-AEC First Team recognition and the second seven garnering All-AEC Second Team respects. In addition to the All-AEC Men's Cross Country Team members, the league office also announced the 2025 AEC Men's Cross Country Major Awards Winners; Champion (Marywood University), Runner-Up (Immaculata University), the Coaching Staff of the Year (Marywood University) , the AEC Elite Scholar Athlete Award (Formerly "Elite 20"); Immaculata University sophomore Kendall Budlow (York, Pa.), the AEC Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year; Marywood University freshman Ethan Williams (Archbald, Pa.), and the AEC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year; Marywood University senior Bryce Ryder (Lewisburg, Pa.), who completed the eight-kilometer (8K) course at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome in 28:25.7.
 
Brennan was Gwynedd Mercy University's top finisher in each race of his debut season, from his 33^rd-place (18:34.1) finish in The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Blue & Gold Invitational (Aug. 29, 5K) to his eighth-place performance in the league championship. In between, he stacked four appearances on the AEC Men's Cross Country Weekly Report; Weekly Honor Roll selections came on September 22 and October 20, while AEC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week awards were celebrated on September 9 and October 13. Brennan's second AEC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week award was a result of his persona-record time of 28:45.2 scoring him a 47^th-place finish at the DeSales University Invitational (Oct. 11).
 
DeSimone's swag song was a steady improvement from begging to end as the heart of the Red and Gold enjoyed a five-kilometer (5k) personal-record at the TCNJ Blue and Gold Invitational with a time of 18:46.1 (35^th) and later, an 8K personal-record at Rowan University's Border Battle (Oct. 18). This is the first all-league laurel of DeSimone's collegiate career; he placed 18^th in both the 2023 (18^th, 31:57.5) and 2024 (18^th, 30:45.2) AEC Championships, as well as 24^th (32:27.4) in 2022.
 
The complete list of the 2025 AEC Men's Cross Country Team and Major Award Winners are listed below and available using the provided links;
 
2025 All-AEC Men's Cross Country Team
& Major Award Winners
 
AEC Men's Cross Country Major Award Winners
Champion - Marywood University
Runner-Up - Immaculata University
Runner of the Year - Bryce Ryder, Sr., Marywood University
Rookie of the Year – Ethan Williams, Fr., Marywood University
Elite Scholar Athlete Award - Kendall Budlow, So., Immaculata University
Coaching Staff of the Year – Marywood University
 
All-AEC First Team

Place.Name, School	Time
1. Bryce Ryder, Marywood University	28:25.7
2. Joseph Cardillo, Marywood University	28:33.4
3. Jakob Seamans, Marywood University	28:46.1
4. Ethan Williams, Marywood University	28:53.9
5. James Modrovsky, Marywood University	29:05.4
6. Raidan Francis, Marywood University	29:13.3
7. Jacob Walsh, Marywood University	29:28.4

                                
All-AEC Second Team

Place.Name, School	Time
8. Conner Brennan, Gwynedd Mercy University	29:35.5
9. Connor Kakowski, Immaculata University	30:04.1
10. Bryan Castro, Neumann University	31:16.3
11. Sebastian DeSimone, Gwynedd Mercy University	31:21.7
12. Henry Brys, Marymount University	31:22.2
13. Brody Graff, Marywood University	31:38.7
14. Jimmy Lauer, Immaculata University	32:00.0