WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State men's cross country team finished 23rd in the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday afternoon from North Dartmouth, Mass. The race featured 35 teams and over 280 runners.
Sophomore Will Buckley (Plymouth, Mass.) was the first Owls runner to cross the finish line, placing 105th out of 283 runners with a time of 27:08.39.
Graduate student Michael Maher (Attleboro, Mass.) was close behind, finishing in 111th at a mark of 27:12.67.
Three of the nine Owls recorded personal best times, and the top five Owls finishers in the event, Buckley, Maher, John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.), Matthew Hall (Duxbury, Mass.) and Brandon Hager (Agawam, Mass.) all placed within 64 seconds of one another.
In the sub-varsity race, seven of the ten Owls achieved personal best marks.
Wondu Summa of Franklin Pierce University claimed the top spot on the men's side, out-pacing the next best runner by 47 seconds. He finished with a time of 23:55.23. UMass Lowell secured the team victory with four runners placing inside the top 20.
Westfield State cross country will be back in action at the turn of the calendar as the Owls will participate in the Purple Valley Classic from Williamstown, Mass. on October 1.