UAlbany XC Men 2nd At Paul Short

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The University at Albany men’s cross country team descended on the campus of Lehigh University this weekend to take part in the Paul Short Invitational. Competing in the 8K Brown race, the middle of three divisions, the men took second place overall behind Princeton, scoring 133 points to the Tigers’ 94. It is UAlbany’s highest place finish of the season so far.

For the third consecutive race, junior Chris Buchanan paced the UAlbany men. He finished third overall with a time of 25:17, representing not only a season best by 30 seconds, but a career best by eight seconds. Sophomore James Sommer finished 12th with a time of 25:44. Following Buchanan and Sommer was junior Andrew Pirnie in 26:08 for 34th place, sophomore Jonathan Moore in 26:13 for 37th place, sophomore Raymond Farinella in 26:26 for 47th place, junior Eric Billinson in 27:32 for 151st place, and junior Peter Schweitzer in 28:11 for 208th place. Also competing was senior Youness Benzaid, who finished in 256th place with a time of 28:36. Six of the eight competing UAlbany athletes recorded seasonal bests on the day.

The Brown race featured 372 competitors from 46 schools. Princeton took the team title despite also sending a squad to the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. Monmouth’s Khari Bowen won the individual title with a time of 25:04.
The men have two weeks before their next scheduled competition on October 19, which features both the Pre-National Invitational and the UAlbany XC Invitational.