Raiders compete in 7th Annual Saints Invitational
DORCHESTER, Mass. – Emmanuel College hosted the 7th Annual Saints Cross Country Invitational at Franklin Park on Friday evening. Over 300 runners represented 22 colleges and universities, with 17 women's teams competing in the 5k race and 16 men's teams in the 8k event. Johnson & Wales University took the men's title, scoring just 35 points.
On the men's side, the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University placed four runners in the top ten, enroute to their second-straight team championship. The Wildcats, who were coming off a win last week in the Saint Joseph's Maine Monks Invitational, combined for 35 points. Babson College ran three top-ten individuals and earned second place with 48 points. The Lynx of Lesley University collected third place with 131 points. Fitchburg State University locked up the fourth spot with 161 points. Despite several mid-race injuries, host Emmanuel College netted fifth place with 171 points.
Salem State University senior Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) earned individual honors at the Saints Invitational for the second-straight year. Gomes, who set a meet record in 2010, finished this year's 8k race in 26:14, besting the field of 156 men. JWU junior Greg Redfield (Penfield, N.Y.) took second place in a time of 26:31. Freshman Robert Allen (Cranston, R.I.) represented Community College of Rhode Island in third place with a time of 26:48. The Johnson & Wales duo of Jeff Hartman (Osseo, Minn.) and Brian Dinan (Geneva, N.Y.) raced to the fourth and fifth spots with times of 27:13 and 27:47, respectively.
Sophomore Alec Davis (Amherst, NH) of Rivier College crossed the line at 31:27. Teammate Geoff O'Brien (East Bridgewater, MA) finished with a 36:56 time while fellow sophomore Denis Demirovic (Manchester, NH) checked in at 37:14. Rounding out the team of five for Rivier were senior Corey Oliveiro (Londonderry, NH) and senior Ryan Cox (Hudson, NH), who had times of 46:54 and 49:25 resepectively. Rivier placed 14th overall as a team in the event.
