SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Fighting through a worn track as well as cold, gusty weather, the Daemen College men's cross-country team took home second place at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships, thanks to top-ten finishes by freshman Matthew Cregan (Syracuse, N.Y./Cregan), sophomore Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Akron) and junior Zachary Eustance (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton).

Out of a field of 186 runners, Cregan finished sixth with a time of 27 minutes and 55.6 seconds in the eight-kilometer race. Rushok and Eustance finished back-to-back at eighth and ninth, posting times of 28:19.7 and 28:20.6, respectively.

Junior Zaccary Ekdahl (Middlesex, N.Y./Marcus Whitman), who finished 19^th with a time of 29:13, and freshman Matthew VanDeMortel (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), who came in 32^nd with a mark of 30:26.7, rounded out the Wildcats' top-five runners.

To determine a champion, the places of a school's top five finishers (first, fifth, eighth, etc.) are totaled for a team score. The school with the lowest total score is the winner. With places of sixth, eighth, ninth, 19^th and 32^nd, Daemen had a team score of 74, edging out Dine College by six points for second place. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the host school of the championships, finished first with a score of 42.

"The men ran a very competitive race on a torn-up course," head coach Jessica Gorski said. "Our top three took home All-American honors and ran a tactical race, knowing where they needed to be in order for a solid individual and team finish. The men have worked extremely hard this season….a second place finish was well-deserved and hard-earned."