By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

The men’s cross country team finished 38th out of 45 this past Friday at the Paul Short Invite in Bethlehem, Pa. D.J. Krystek ’13 was the only Bison runner to place in the top 200, with a time of 26:02.

“Overall, we were pretty disappointed,” Dave Brown ’12 said. “We have been training really hard and with great results, but it just hasn’t translated into good races yet. We are a much better team than the results showed.”

Brown and Dan Dillon ’12 rounded out the top three for the Bison, finishing in 26:23 and 26:28 respectively. John Dugan ’15 continued to be the top contributing first-year for the Bison, finishing nine seconds after Dillon.

Out of the four Patriot League teams competing in the event, the Bison finished last with 1,069 points. American claimed the top with 18th,followed by Lehigh in 20th and Army in 24th.

“We came away from the race knowing that the time has come to get serious about racing. We are done making mistakes and having bad races,” Brown said. “We need to be smart and stay positive. Consistency and trust in our training is paramount.”

Overall, the University of Oklahoma placed four runners in the top 10 to claim the team title. Georgetown claimed runner-up honors, yet still fell short of the Sooners squad by more than 100 points.

“Not only was the field better than last year, but it included more teams, so placing higher than last year’s team is a good indicator that we are improving as individuals and a team,” Krystek said. “We knew that the size and talent level of the race would provide us with an experience similar to that of regionals and, at the same time, give us a chance to race the same course that we will race for Patriot Leagues.”

The team has just one event remaining before heading to the League Championship on Oct. 14. The men head to Loretto, Pa. tomorrow to compete in the Father Bede Invitational.

“At this point, all we can do is remain focus on the championship part of our season and try our best to take care of the details,” Krystek said. “We need to stay healthy and push each other every day so that we will be in the best shape possible for leagues and regionals.”