Grand Rapids, Michigan - The men's cross country team opened their season with a solid showing at the Knight Invite hosted by Calvin University. The Saints ventured to the Gainey Athletic Facility and raced to a sixth place team finish. Aquinas, who currently is receiving votes in the NAIA national rankings, battled rain, an extremely muddy course and some very good competition on Homecoming Saturday.
Charlie Coyle paced the attack for the Saints finishing 46th overall in a time of 27:02. Aquinas then used a trio of seniors to secure the next three scoring spots as
Austin Williford placed 52nd in a time of 27:12. Closing following Williford through the chute was
Will VanderBor (56th - 27:17) and
Parker Fenton (62nd - 27:28). The breakout performance of the meet came from true freshman
Nick Fowler, who tallied the Saints final scoring spot placing 66th in time of 27:36.
Also contributing to Aquinas' top seven were
Noah Momber who finished 69th in a time of 27:40 and
Andrew Stern (86th place), who crossed the line at 28:08.
A total of 166 individuals competed for ten different programs.
The Saints will return to action on October 3rd as they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to compete in the Seminole Valley Stampede.
