RESULTS

CANTON, N.Y. - After two consecutive sixth place finishes, the Ithaca College men's cross country team took fifth place at the Liberty League Cross Country Championships. Battling cold and muddy conditions, the Bombers battled, with many athletes improving both their positioning and time from last season's championship. 

For the second year in a row, the meet was held at the Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country Course on the campus of Saint Lawrence University. The course contains multiple portions in the woods along with a steep uphill that the athletes go up twice. The immense rainfall from the past week made an already challenging course all the more difficult as Bombers had to shift their mindset from personal bests to just competing for spots. 

In what has been a familiar theme for the Bombers this season, junior Toag Wolf led the charge up front for Ithaca. They did an excellent job moving up throughout the race, finishing in 14th with a very impressive 26:06 over the 8K distance, just 15 seconds off their personal best. This result helped Wolf land an All-Liberty League second team honor, the Bombers only All-Conference finish of the day. 

Up next was senior Ben Buffone who clocked a 26:40 for 26th place. Following Buffone was junior Elliott Painting in 38th place. Painting moved up 17 positions throughout the race and improved his finishing position by 29 spots from last season.

Rounding out the scorers for the Bombers were two freshmen, Felix Farrugia in 42nd and Griffin Lupes in 58th. Farrugia moved up a whopping 34 positions throughout the race. These two freshmen likely secured their spot on the regionals roster, marking the first time in over five seasons that Bombers will be sending two freshmen to the line at regionals. 

Other notable results include junior Connor McGeehan and sophomore Kaiden Chandler. McGeehan finished 21 spots better than last season (59) and took nearly one minute off his time. Chandler finished 61st, and positioned himself in the varsity seven for only the third time in his career.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute defended their title with ease, scoring just 22 points and placing eight runners in the top 10 and 14 in the top 20. However, for the second year in a row they failed to get an individual title to their name as senior Nicholas Lyndaker of Saint Lawrence defended home turf for the second consecutive year, crossing the line first in a time of 25:16. Lyndaker, who was an NCAA champion in the indoor mile last winter continues to prove to be one of the most versatile runners in the country.

The Bombers will continue their season in two weeks at the NCAA Niagara Regional Championships in Rochester where they will put their top seven runners on the line and look to improve on their ninth place finish from last season.