EDINBORO, Pa. -- After placing two runners in the top-10 finishers today, the Daemen University men's cross country team finished fifth of 11 teams at the season opening Doug Watts Open on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats finished with a team score of 151. Slippery Rock University, who had all five scorers place in the top 15 today, won the meet with a team score of 49. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (82), Edinboro University (83) and East Stroudsburg University (108) placed ahead of Daemen. 

Junior CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) led the Wildcats on the day, finishing fifth of 109 runners with a PR time of 19:26.7 over the 6K race, shaving over a minute off his previous 6K PR (20:46.1). Junior Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) set a 6K PR as well today, finishing ninth on the day with a time of 19:53.5, almost one minute faster than his previous best (20:51.9) set at the 2024 Doug Watts Open.

Senior Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) finished third on the team and 60th overall with a PR time of 21:28.7, 30 seconds faster than his previous best. Running in his first collegiate race, freshman Ibrahim Hakizimana (Rochester, N.Y.) posted a time of 21:37.1 to place 65th overall and fourth on the team. Junior Brad Tobin (Hamburg, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen scorers with a PR time of 22:06.3 to finish 75th on the day. 

• Graduate student Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) finished 84th on the day with a personal best time of 23:06.2.
• Freshman Andre Kannisto (Boston, N.Y.) posted a time of 23:48.8 to finish 92nd overall.
• Freshman Brendan Smukall (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished 94th with a time of 23:54.6. 

The Wildcats are off for two weeks but will return to the course on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational in Rochester, N.Y. on the Matt St. James Cross Country Course.

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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.

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