Grand Rapids, Michigan - The men's cross country team opened their season in dominant fashion at the Knight/Raider Invitational. The Saints made the quick trip to the Gainey Athletic Facility and raced to the team title. Aquinas, who currently sits at #16 in the NAIA national rankings, secured the first nine spots of the race and 14 of the top 20 en route to the perfect score (15).

Aquinas was led by a quartet of seniors who crossed the line in unison to claim the top four spots. Ben Hardy, Edward Frey, Ethan Barker, and Matthew Schieber all stopped the clock at 25:52.  The Saints would also claim the next five positions in the final results with a flurry of AQ gray finishing ten seconds apart. Juan David Hernandez (26:23), Brian Langlois (26:23), Carson Lafferty (26:25), Austin Williford (26:29), and Jonah Maichele (26:33) completed the 1-9 sweep for the Saints. 

Head Coach Mike Wojciakowski commented, "Overall I am really happy with how the guys performed today. We showed both our power up front and our excellent depth.  We have some things to work on still, but this is exactly the start I was looking for from these guys."

Also placing in the top 20 for Aquinas: Noah Momber (12th - 26:40), Zander Masten (14th - 27:08), Jaben Bakker (15th - 27:08), Shema Reponse (16th - 27:08), and Charlie Coyle (20th - 27:31).

A total of 104 individuals competed for 13 different programs.

The Saints will return to action on September 27th as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to compete in the Gans Creek Classic. The meet will be contested at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course with the women starting at 10:30am.