COATESVILLE, Pa. – In Saturday's Purple and Gold Open, the TCNJ men's cross country team was in action in two races. The Lions placed second as a team in both, placing as the best DIII outfit in those races.
 
The 4K started off the day's action, and four Lions finished inside of the top ten of the opening race. David Keefe paced the Lions with a sixth-place finish (13:33.9), and he was followed close behind by Ryan Faulkner in seventh (13:35.8) and Matthew McDevitt (13:38.6). Anthony Thomas took 10^th place with a time of 13:54.1. Tyler Smith (12^th, 13:59.4), Francisco Lopez (14^th, 14:31.3), and Marc Monti (15^th, 14:35.8) rounded out the Lions' top seven runners with their top-15 performances.
 
Will Nelson led the way in the 8K, completing the course in 27:59.1 to place fourth. Silas Matteson (8^th, 29:11.6) and Stephen Martin (9^th, 29:15.5) also claimed places in the top ten. Freshman Ryan McCann (29:22.8) and Senan De Silva (29:43.9) placed 11^th and 12^th respectively, and Tyler Hurst (29:54.7) and Damian Smutek (29:55.0) rounded out the Lions' top seven in 15^th and 16^th.
 
The Lions will run in Pennsylvania again next Friday, this time in the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University—the host institution of this year's NCAA Metro Region Championship.