WATERFORD, CONN. – The TCNJ men's cross country team traveled to Connecticut on Saturday, competing in a pair of 8K races at the Connecticut College Invitational. Among the talent-filled field featuring many nationally-ranked squads, both Lions outfits battled to solid finishes.
 
Rookie Tyler Hurst led the way for the five Lions involved in the 'White' race, finishing in 82^nd place with a time of 26:44.0. Silas Matteson (105^th, 26:58.6) and Jason Kasoff (106^th, 26:59.2) finished after Hurst one after another, while Declan Butler (166^th, 27:41.6) and Julian Groom (199^th, 28:05.6) rounded out TCNJ's squad which finished 21^st in the 11:00 AM race.
 
A couple of hours later, ten Lions took to the course in the 'Blue' race. A trio of Lions—Joshua Santiago, Phil Pace, and Will Nelson—finished inside of the top 100. Santiago cracked the top 50 spots with a 43^rd-place run (24:53.7), Pace finished 66^th (25:10.7), and Nelson secured a top-100 finish with a 94^th-place performance (25:32.9). Sean Haggerty (112^th, 25:45.3) and William O'Donovan (150^th, 26:02.3) placed inside the top 150, and Simon Bernhardt (154^th, 26:07.4) and Will Evarts (164^th, 26:14.1) completed the Lions who finished among the top 200 runners. Sawyer Stellitano (201^st, 26:43.7) and Andrew Scalercio (240^th, 28:11.7) completed TCNJ's squad in the race. As a team, the Lions placed 15^th on 418 points.
 
The Lions will look to carry this momentum into next Saturday's NJAC Championship, which will take place at home in Ewing this year. The conference winner will be decided in a race beginning at 11:15 AM on October 31^st.