PAUL SHORT RUN (MEN'S COLLEGE WHITE RACE) - FULL RESULTS

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Daemen College men's cross country team ran to a 16th place finish out of 26 competing teams at the Paul Short Run hosted today by Lehigh University. One of the premier cross country meets in the United States, the Paul Short Run features 12 total races and nearly 4,000 competing runners. The Wildcats were participants in the Men's College White Race - the last of three men's collegiate races on the schedule today which featured teams from both the NCAA Division II and III ranks. 

Three Daemen runners earned top-100 finishes in a field of 218 participants. The Wildcats finished with 446 points in the team standings, edging East Region rival Bentley (17th place, 448 points). Daemen was one of four East Region teams participating today, joining Bentley, Jefferson (12th place, 278 points) and East Coast Conference foe Molloy (15th place, 387 points). 

With five of the top 33 finishers, Washington & Lee took home team medalist honors. The Generals totaled 104 points to squeak past runner-up Catholic which finished with 105 points. Lebanon Valley (140 points) rounded out the top three finishing teams. NCAA Division III programs accounted for the top 11 spots in the standings. Jefferson, the No. 9 ranked team in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Region poll, was the top performing Division II team out of the seven in the field.

Catholic's John O'Rourke was the individual medalist. He crossed the 8K finish line with a time of 25:38.9 - 14 seconds ahead of runner-up Noah Griffin (25:52.5) of Lebanon Valley.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sophomore Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) was Daemen's top finisher for the third consecutive race. Moote, who finished 40th at last weekend's Harry F. Anderson Invitational, placed 41st today with a time of 27:16.8. 
• Running for the first time since the Daemen Duels on September 11, junior Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) came across as Daemen's second scorer with a career-best time of 28:22.8, placing 89th. It marked the first time Clementi has placed as high as second among the team's scorers as he posted a sub-30-minute 8K time for the first time. His previous career-best time was 30:38.2 which he ran at the Daemen Duels.
• Sophomore Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) earned his second straight top-100 finish, placing 99th with a time of 28:30.5. It marks the third straight meet that O'Brien has set a new personal-best as he shaved three seconds off his time (28:33.1) from the Harry F. Anderson Invitational.
• Sophomore Phillip Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) was also in a personal-best kind of mood as he placed 102nd with a time of 28:35.3. It marked the first sub-29-minute time of his career, and was more than a minute faster than his Daemen Duels time (29:48.6) from earlier this month.
• Sophomore Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen scorers, placing 152nd with a time of 30:02.0. 
• Freshman John Balch (Saranac, N.Y.), sophomore David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.), junior John Bruggman (Batavia, N.Y.), freshman Nolan Robillard (Hamburg, N.Y.) and redshirt junior Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) also competed for Daemen today, placing between 153rd and 179th. 

UP NEXT
Daemen takes a short break from competitions, but will return to running at the Canisius Alumni Classic held at Buffalo's Delaware Park on Saturday, October 16. 

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
 

Follow the Daemen College men's cross country program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXC_TRACK, and on Facebook at @DaemenXCTF