Race Results (PDF)

CANTON, NY (October 8, 2011) – On an afternoon when head coach James McCowan said his team was still rounding into form, the Vassar College men's cross country team finished 7th of 17 teams at the Hoffmann Atlantic Pre-Regional Invitational hosted by St. Lawrence University on Saturday.

Vassar finished in 7th with 215 points. The 20th annual running of the race was won by a strong Bates College team (53 points) that placed three runners in the top nine places. Host Saint Lawrence was second (75), edging out Geneseo (76). Cortland finished fourth (133) and RPI fifth (168).

The Brewers, who were previewing the 8k course that will be used for the NCAA Atlantic Regional on November 12, were “solid, but have better races ahead of them,” said McCowan.

Junior Zach Williams led the Brewers and finished 18th overall (26:27) in a race with 265 participants.  “Zach continues to get better each week,” said McCowan. “He stepped up nicely for us today.”

Seniors Will Healy and Justin Rupert were next for Vassar, in the 27th and 40th overall positions with 26:35 and 27:00 efforts. “Our top three runners have been very reliable and consistent in every race this season,” said McCowan. “We just need to improve our overall depth and when we run at full strength we'll be a team to look at.”

Junior Sam Wagner was Vassar's fourth finisher and 63rd overall (27:34). Rounding out the scoring for the Brewers was fellow junior Roni Teich whose placed 67th (27:41). Vassar's sixth and seventh runners in its scoring contingent were seniors Evan Russek in 71st (27:51) and Matt Blair in 79th (28:06).

The Brewers will return to racing next Saturday, October 15, at the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness State Park at 11:00 p.m.