BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the fifth time this season, Bridgewater State University junior Naomi Cass has been selected as the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week.

A native of Westport, Massachusetts, Cass earned All-East Region honors for the second straight year to lead the BSU women’s cross country team at the 2024 NCAA Division III East Region Cross Country Championships held this past weekend at Hopkinton State Fair Grounds in Contoocook, New Hampshire.

Cass covered the six-kilometer course in a personal-best time of 22:05.71 to place sixth out of a field of 232 runners at the meet as she also qualified for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. The sixth place finish is the highest for a BSU runner in program history.

Cass is the Bears' first women's cross country student-athlete to earn All-East Region honors and qualify for the NCAA championships in back-to-back seasons.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is hosting the national championship meet on Saturday (Nov. 23) at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women’s race is slated to get underway at 11:00 AM.

The MASCAC Runner of the Week accolade marks the tenth of Cass' career as she also earned the honor five times during the 2023 campaign.