OSWEGO, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Cross Country Team turned a strong performance on Saturday at the Oswego State Invitational, placing 5th in the 12-team race. After letting it loose a week ago at the 6th Annual SUNYIT Invitational, where the men placed second behind a 1st-place finish by freshman Derek Struck (Knox, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo), the Wildcats approached this week's race as a "tempo run," making their 5th-place showing all the more impressive.
The freshman Struck again led the way, finishing 26th with a time of 28:09.2. Teammate Dylan Parry (Voorheesville, N.Y. / Voorheesville) wasn't far behind him, finishing 31st with a time of 28:19.2.
The next group of Wildcats included Sean Reynolds (East Berne, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo), Cody Russell (Fonda, N.Y. / Fonda), and Chris Wicks (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker), who all turned in times between 29:14 and 29:35.
The 8k race was ultimately won by the University of Rochester, as Yuji Wakimoto turned in the 1st place time of 26:09.4.
SUNYIT's next race will be at Penn St.-Abington on Saturday, September 15th. The course is the same one that the NEAC Championship will be held on at the end of the season, and after taking this week "off" with a tempo run the Wildcats will be in full racing mode come next Saturday. Race time is scheduled for 9:45 am.