RESULTS

The Ithaca men's cross country team battled some of the best teams in the nation at the 44^th Mike Woods Geneseo XC Invitational at Letchworth State Park. In the final meet of the regular season, the Bombers battled strong wind gusts to finish 9^th overall, narrowly edging out conference and regional rival RIT by four points.

It was Ithaca's first time at this course in over five years, and it led to a challenging start in the narrow early portion of the race which featured multiple tight turns in the woods. At the first split taken at 2,000 meters, the Bombers found themselves in 13^th place. Despite having to make passes on the long, windy straightaway along the road, the Bombers had three of the biggest "gainers" in the entire field. 

Senior Elliott Painting led the way, moving up from 92^nd to 36^th overall, running a time of 26:20. The Bombers' second scorer was Griffin Lupes who clocked a 26:35 for 43rd. Lupes moved up from 72^nd to 43^rd throughout the race. 

It was three more sophomores who rounded out the scoring for the Bombers. Felix Farrugia moved from 93^rd to 48th, running 26:51. Brady Wortman moved from 134^th to 91st, running a 28:01, and Luke Ferrer moved from 130^th to 93^rd to run 28:07. Just behind Ferrer were two more Ithaca sophomores. Dylan Tripp moved from 129^th to  97^th overall to run 28:08, and Sully Cook moved from 137^th to 99^th to run 28:11.

Other notable performances for the Bombers included senior Ben Buffone, who made his seasons debut while battling an injury. Buffone ran 28:39, moving up from 150^th to 118^th overall throughout the race. 

The Bombers have now defeated RIT in two consecutive meets, and SUNY Oneonta in three consecutive meets. These were two programs ranked ahead of the Bombers in the Niagara Region rankings to begin the season. 

No. 2 SUNY Geneseo, took home the team title on their home turf, beating No. 7 RPI 55-60. Geneseo senior Emerson Comer took home the individual title in a time of 24:58.

With the conclusion of their regular season, the Bombers will have their sights set on the Liberty League Championship on October 31 hosted by Bard College.