BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Daemen University men's cross country team placed 14th out of 14 teams at the Canisius Alumni Classic in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon, in an event that head coach Pete Gratien described as a tune up for next weekend's East Coast Conference Championships.
 
Full Results
 
The Wildcats posted a team score of 402 in the race. Binghamton won the event with a score of 40, while Detroit Mercy, SUNY Geneseo, Canisius and Roberts Wesleyan completed the top five.
 
Senior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) paced Daemen for the first time this season, posting a 30:32.5 8K time, over one minute slower than his PR time which he set at last weekend's Highlander Invitational. Cushing finished 134th out of 182 overall runners.
 
Two Wildcats finished right behind Cushing. Freshman Ibrahim Hakizimana (Rochester, N.Y.) and senior Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) set equal times 30:32.7, running in a pack with Cushing
 
The second Daemen group of three finished about 17 seconds behind their teammates. Junior Brad Tobin (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished 140th overall with a time of 30:49.6, while juniors CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) and Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) in 30:49.7.
 
The Wildcats turn their attention to the ECC Championships on Oct. 25 beginning at 10 a.m. in Kings Park, N.Y. at Sunken Meadow State Park. Daemen finished second out of seven teams in the event last year. Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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 University cross country/track and field program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF