COLCHESTER, V.T. -- The Daemen University men's cross country team finished second out of three teams on Sunday morning in the Equality Invitational hosted by Saint Michael's. 

For the first time since the 2021 Daemen Duels, junior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) finished first overall, pacing the field of 30 runners with a personal-best time of 26:41.6 in the 8K race. The Wildcats placed two more runners in the top-10, with junior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) finishing sixth overall for the second time this season with a time of 28:04.5. Junior Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) crossed the finish line eighth overall, posting a personal-best time of 28:20.1.

It was a close finish between the three schools that were represented at the Equality Invitational, with Mansfield posting a team-title winning score of 37 after placing the third, fourth and fifth place finishers in the race. Daemen finished second for the third time this season, coming in just behind Mansfield with a team score of 40. Host St. Michael's finished three points behind the Wildcats, with a team score of 43.

The Wildcats are off next weekend, but return to action on Oct. 8 when they travel to Houghton, N.Y. to participate in the Highlander Invitational.

FULL RESULTS

HIGHLIGHTS

• For the first time this season, all 13 runners on Daemen's roster participated in the race.
• Moote's PR time of 26:41.6 lands him eighth overall in the Daemen record book of 8K times. He shaved off 22.2 seconds from his previous personal best (27:03.8) from the 2021 East Coast Conference Championships. 
• O'Brien finished sixth overall today, tying a career-high finish. He has previously finished sixth in the Daemen Alumni Invitational on Sept. 10 and the 2021 Daemen Duels at Bassett Park. 
• Ceccarelli posted a personal-best time this morning. The junior shaved 15.2 seconds off his previous PR (28:35.3) from the Paul Short Run on Oct. 1, 2021. 
• Senior Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) earned the highest finish of his career, placing 11th overall with a time of 28:27.9, just five seconds out of the top 10. Clementi's time was his best since the 2021 ECC Championships, where he set his PR (27:45.3).
• In just his second race of his career, freshman Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) shaved 42 seconds off his collegiate debut at the Daemen Alumni Invitational, finishing 14th and rounding out the Daemen scoring with a time of 29:01.0 for a personal-best.
• Senior John Bruggman (Batavia, N.Y.) crossing the finish line 14th overall with a PR time of 29:20.4. His previous personal-best time (29:42.5) came at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 25, 2021.
• Sophomore John Balch (Saranac, N.Y.) finished four seconds behind Bruggman (29:24.4) to place 15th overall and seventh for the Wildcats, and was the second of five consecutive Daemen runners to cross the finish line in this Wildcat clump. 
• Junior David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.), freshman Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) and junior Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) finished right behind Bruggman and Balch. Schwinger placed 18th with a time of 29:24.9, Trometer finished his 19th in his collegiate debut with a time of 29:26.4, and Blatto crossed the line 20th overall at 29:34.8.
• Junior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) and redshirt-senior Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) also figured into the race, with Cushing finishing 25th overall with a time of 30:50.2, and Reynolds placing 28th at 31:21.4. 
• Sophomore Nolan Robillard (Hamburg, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen runners, posting a time of 32:20.7 to finish 29th.