CHICOPEE, MA- At the Elms College Blazer Invitational on Saturday, Lasell College men's cross country finished 5th as a team, behind lead Laser runner Kyle Northrop (Bellingham, MA) who took a 21st place individual finish on the course.
The University of New England finished as the top team on the men's side of the race with 35 points, placing their top five runners amongst the top ten of the race. Just barely edged by the Noreasters was Lasell's fellow Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contender Johnson & Wales University with 37 points, with individuals finishing in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place spots, to take 2nd place as a team. Rhode Island College was third with 55 points and the best individual performance of the day by Conor McCloskey, crossing the finish line in 27:49.
Lasell narrowly missed the 4th place team spot by just two points, finishing just shy of Johnson State College (125 points), while the Lasers took 5th with 127 points.
Northrop completed the 8K course in 32:28, and first for Lasell, even after taking a hard fall during the race after an unforeseen water hazard around the two mile marker. Up until that time, Northrop was a top-ten contender, pacing for an 8th place finish had the unfortunate accident not occurred. Fortunately, Northrop was able to recover and finish in the top 25 despite the setback.
Following Northrop was Raymon Donis (Raynham, MA) in 28th place and Conor Devlin (Wellesley, MA) in 30th place. Donis ran 6:40 splits for a total time of 33:04 on the course while Devlin followed with 6:43 splits and an ending time of 33:22. Devlin made great strides for Lasell in the meet in an impressive effort securing a top-30 spot in the race as a rookie.
Grant Vantine (Fitchburg, MA), Isaac Montoya (El Paso, TX), and Michael Isherwood (Warwick, RI) all added to Lasell's 5th place finish, completing the race in order with times of 35:40, 36:23, and 39:32.
The Lasers are set to compete next at Gordon College on Saturday, October 1st, in the Pop Crowell Annual Invitational.