Channahon, Ill. – The NAIA No. 17-ranked University of St. Francis men's cross country team began its season on Friday evening, putting together a third-place finish at the team's Fighting Saints Twilight Invite. USF's score of 92 was only bested by University of Chicago (18) and Governors State University (86). A total of 11 teams made up the field.
Sophomore Jack Wright and senior Michael Reif paced St. Francis throughout the meet and finished neck and neck in the 12th and 13th positions, respectively. Wright posted a final time of 15:58.3, while Reif finished at 15:59.2. Scott Crabb was next in line for USF with a time of 16:02.0, good for 15th place. Freshman Manuel Soto finished 25th overall with a time of 16:30.7, a few seconds before Alex Aragon crossed the finish line at 16:34.2 to complete the top five. Erik Tejeda and Tizoc Landeros rounded out the top 50 finishers for St. Francis.
Sam Mickelson was the top alumni performer for USF with his time of 15:46.7, ranking eighth-best overall.
The top individual performer was University of Chicago's Josh List at 15:29.4.
The Saints run next on Friday, September 20 at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) National Catholic Invite with competition set to commence at 3:15 pm.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on Twitter @USFSaints.
