Men's Cross Country | 9/23/2023 12:30:00 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Daemen University men's cross country team earned a program-best second place finish at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Saturday afternoon on the Matt St. James cross country trails on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan. The Wildcats placed three runners in the top 20 over the 8K race, with four of the top five Daemen runners earning personal bests on the course this afternoon.
Reigning ECC Runner of the Week
Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats for the second straight meet, with the senior finishing sixth out of 175 runners with a time of 25:38.0. Freshman
CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.), who was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season, finished second on the team for the first time this year as he placed 13th with a PR 8K time of 26:10.7. Senior
Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) set a personal best 8K today with a time of 26:23.4 as he finished 17th.
Sophomore
Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and senior
Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) placed 21st and 22nd, with Kincaid crossing the finish line with a PR time of 26:46.2, and Ceccarelli rounding out the Daemen scoring with a time of 26:48.6 for a PR.
SUNY Geneseo placed all five runners in the top seven in the race today for a first place team score of 20. The Wildcats totaled 79 points to finish second, while Cortland finished third at 84. Nazareth (114), St. Clair County CC (140), SUNY ESF (164), RIT (167), Morrisville State (254), D'Youville (276), and Alfred (297) rounded out the top 10. Host Roberts Wesleyan (308), Alfred State (323), Hilbert (388) and SUNY Erie (444) were the final four teams represented today.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Moote's time of 25:38.0 ranks third in the Daemen 8K record books, behind only Moote's 2022 school record time (25:30.1) and the previous Daemen record holder Kevin Roginson (25:32.6).
- Johnson shaved a minute and a half off his first 8K PR time (27:49.8) set last weekend at the Daemen Alumni Invitational. He finished second on the team for the first time in his young career. Johnson's time of 26:10.7 ranks fourth in the Daemen 8K record books.
- O'Brien shaved 20 seconds off his previous PR 8K time (26:42.3) set at the 2022 Highlander Invitational. Today's time of 26:23.4 ranks eighth in the Daemen record books.
- Coming off a successful freshman campaign, Kincaid set another PR this season, crushing his previous PR of 27:41.1 set at the 2022 Highlander Invitational, shaving almost a minute off his time.
- Ceccarelli knocked 18 seconds off his previous 8K personal best (27:04.3) set at the 2022 Highlander Invitational.
- Freshman Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) finished sixth on the team and 25th overall with a time of 27:12.5, shaving one minute and 21 seconds off his previous PR (28:33.2) set at last weekend's Daemen Alumni Invitational.
- Senior Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) finished 37th overall and seventh on the team with a time of 27:45.9.
- Sophomore Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) placed 73rd with a PR time of 28:19.8, eight seconds faster than his 2022 PR at the Highlander Invitational. Senior John Balch (Saranac, N.Y.) posted a 28:26.5 time, finishing 77th overall.
- Senior David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished 92nd with a PR time of 28:46.0. Freshman Matthew Strasser (Alden, N.Y.) posted a PR time of 29:06.0, shaving 38 seconds off his first 8K last weekend.
- Junior Nolan Robillard (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished 114 with a PR time of 29:50.0. Senior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) posted a personal-best time of 30:32.7 to finish 123rd. Graduate student Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) finished 127th at 30:44.7. Freshman Brad Tobin (Hamburg, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen runners with a PR time of 31:02.7.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats have next weekend off but will travel to Houghton, N.Y. to race in the Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 7.
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