PITMAN, NJ --- The College of New Jersey junior Brandon Chen (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and freshman teammate Josh Santiago (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) have been named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Runner of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, for the 2025 season.
 
Additionally, TCNJ head coach Justin Lindsey and assistants Michael Walker and Cassidy Quinn earn Coaching Staff of the Year honors based on a vote of the league’s head coaches.
 
Chen and Santiago highlight the 14-member NJAC men’s cross country all-conference team. All honors were determined based on placing at the championship meet, which was conducted at Stockton University on Saturday, Nov. 1. A maximum of seven runners from one institution are eligible for all-conference honors.
 
Chen captured NJAC Runner of the Year honors after winning the conference championship with a time of 24:56 in the 8K race. The Long Valley native led the Lions to their team title, finishing eight seconds ahead of the field. Chen’s victory anchored TCNJ’s dominant performance that saw the Lions place seven runners in the top 10. The Week 8 NJAC Runner of the Week set the program’s all-course 8K record earlier this season.
 
Santiago earned NJAC Rookie of the Year recognition with a 10th-place finish at the conference championship, clocking 25:49. The Old Bridge native became the third consecutive TCNJ runner to earn conference rookie honors, continuing the Lions’ impressive freshman tradition. He finished as the team’s seventh runner but still placed in the top 10 overall. Santiago is a three-time NJAC Rookie of the Week.
 
TCNJ’s coaching staff of Justin Lindsey, Michael Walker, and Cassidy Quinn earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors after guiding the Lions to a commanding championship victory. TCNJ scored just 22 points while placing seven runners in the top 10, including five in the top seven. The team’s average time of 25:18.0 was nearly 32 seconds faster than runner-up Rowan, and their top-five spread was just 40.7 seconds.
 

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FIRST TEAM
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Brandon Chen~*	TCNJ	JR	Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central
Matthew Conway^+	Rowan	GR	Haddon Township, NJ/Haddon Township
Kevin Matthews^+	TCNJ	SR	Flanders, NJ/Pope John XXIII
Colin Patterson*	Rowan	JR	Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights
Matt Granizo~	TCNJ	GR	Scotch Plains, NJ/Union Catholic
Phil Pace	TCNJ	SO	Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan
Moksh Patwari	TCNJ	SO	Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan
SECOND TEAM
Name	School	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Evan Melito	TCNJ	SR	Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro
Josh Corsentino	Stockton	JR	Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial
Josh Santiago	TCNJ	FR	Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge
Elijah Whitaker	Rowan	FR	Glassboro, NJ/Glassboro
Jacob Dinerman*	Rutgers-Camden	JR	Haddon Township, NJ/Haddon Township
Sean Hice	Rowan	SR	Sewell, NJ/Washington Township
Ryan Pena+	Ramapo	SR	Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack

 
 
KEY:
* - First Team All-Conference 2024
+ - Second Team All-Conference 2024
~ - First Team All-Conference 2023
^ - Second Team All-Conference 2023