FULL RESULTS

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Junior runner Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Buffalo State College) paced the Daemen College men's cross country team in the opening race of their 2014 season today at the Le Moyne College Alumni Short Course Invitational.  Rushok ran the 6K race in 20:13.61 to finish in second place - the best finish by a Daemen runner since his teammate Zac Ekdahl (Middlesex, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) finished in third place at the Wells College Invitational on Oct. 20, 2012.

With three of its five scorers finishing in the top 20, Daemen wound up in third place in the team standings with 72 points, just seven behind the host Le Moyne Dolphins who came in second.  Roberts Wesleyan College was far and away the top team, finishing with just 30 points after placing all five scorers in the top eight.

For Rushok, today's performance was the third top-10 finish of his career after transferring in last year from Buffalo State College.  He pulled off the feat in last year's season opener as well, the Talon Invitational, and also in the final race of 2013, the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships.

Rushok was backed up today by the usual cast of characters for head coach Jessica Gorski's squad.  The Wildcats placed four runners between 17th and 25th places led by senior Zach Eustance (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) who completed the course in 20:34.82.  The afore-mentioned Ekdahl was next, finishing in 19th place at 21:06.49, followed by sophomore Matt Cregan (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) who came in 22nd place (21:18.85) while racing in his hometown.  Fellow second-year Wildcat Nigel Cordulla (Cheektowaga, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) rounded out the scorers for Daemen with his 25th-place finish at 21:32.59.

Only Jake McAndrews, a member of the Le Moyne Alumni team partaking in the event was faster than Rushok today, winning the race in 19:58.53.

Daemen returns to racing next Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Penn State-Behren Invitational in Erie, Pa.