RESULTS

The Ithaca College men's cross country team had a strong showing at the Fredonia Kara Hall Memorial Invitational this past Friday, placing second out of 13 scoring teams. The Bombers were led by two top three finishers in senior Elliott Painting and sophomore Griffin Lupes, with Painting taking home the victory in a time of 26:04. 

After a long rainstorm in the morning of the race, the course was muddy with multiple spots of questionable footing. This led to less personal bests, but the Bombers competed well, taking down the Rochester Institute of Technology who had beaten the Bombers in the previous race. 

2k into the race, Lupes took the lead and put a gap on the field. This was Lupes' first 8k of the season after he missed the previous race with an illness. Lupes held the lead, but with about 1,000 meters remaining in the race, Painting and Utica's Bennett Melita began to gain ground on Lupes. With about 600 meters to go, heading into the final hill, Painting put in a surge, passing Lupes and dropping Melita in the process. Painting closed hard on the downhill into the finishing chute, putting 10 seconds on Melita to secure his first collegiate cross country victory. 

Despite having to lead most of the race, and the challenging course conditions, Lupes was able to clock a 25 second personal best, running a 26:16 for third place. 

Following Lupes, the sophomore Felix Farrugia ran 26:48 to take 12th. The Bomber scoring was rounded out by two more sophomores, Luke Ferrer and Dylan Tripp. Ferrer ran 27:31 for 30^th place, and Tripp placed 42nd, tying his personal best in a time of 27:45.

Other notable performances for the Bombers included their two first-years Nevan Walsh and Kam Stevenson. Walsh ran 28:26 for 67^th place, narrowly missing his personal best of 28:19. Stevenson ran 29:25 for a 42 second personal best. 

The Bombers will be back in action in two weeks on October 16 for the Mike Woods Invitational hosted by SUNY Geneseo where they will take on some of the best teams in the nation.