BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The TCNJ men's cross country team recorded a 25th place finish in the 8k at the Paul Short Invite on Saturday.

Competing among a field of 47 teams in the Brown race, which featured schools across all three NCAA divisions, the Lions started out 34th at the mile mark, before steadily moving up as a pack to 27 at the 5k mark, 26 at the 6.3k mark and then making a final push to the finish line.

FINISH LINE SNAPSHOTS

• Sophomore Matt Granizo led the Lions pack with a top-100 finish in the race, crossing the finish line in 65th place with a new personal-best time of 25:57.5. His mark also represents the fastest time ran in the NJAC this weekend.
• Finishing second for the Blue and Gold was sophomore Brandon Chen, who placed 124th after running the fastest conference time for a rookie at 26:24.9.  
• Senior Brian Micco narrowly missed a personal-best after placing 131st with a time of 26:28.3.
• Rounding out the top-five for TCNJ were junior Michael Rodriguez and senior Matt Richardson, who finished 173rd and 200th with times of 26:51.0 and 27:09.9, respectively.
• Sophomore Kevin Matthews crossed the finish line sixth for the Lions with a time of 27:45.8 for 264th place.
• Freshman Sean Haggerty rounded out the top-seven with a time of 28:39.0 to place 339th.

NOTES

• The Blue and Gold finished the race six among Division III teams, and edged out NJAC rival Rowan by a spot.

UP NEXT
The Lions head out to Newark next Saturday to race in the Highlander Invite at Branch Brook Park. The start time is scheduled for 10:15 AM.