LEHIGH, Pa. – The Stony Brook University men's cross country team continued its blazing start to the 2022 season this morning. The men placed seventh overall at the Paul Short Run presented by ASICS. The squad was driven by Robert Becker, who finished first-place on the team and 27^th overall in the Men's College Gold 8K at the Lehigh University Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.

Coming in three seconds after Becker was redshirt junior Evan Brennan, finishing in 31^st-place overall. Graduate Carlos Santos Jr., senior Shane Henderson, and fellow graduate Conor Malanaphy all captured top-100 finishes, finishing 49^th, 71^st, and 92^nd, respectively, out of 428 runners.
 
In the Men's Open 8K, the Seawolves had six top-100 performers out of 533 competitors, including a 33^rd-place and 59^th-place finish from freshmen Ryan Allison and Michael Hawkes.
 
Overall, the squad placed seventh with 157 points out of 46 teams. The University of North Carolina took home the first-place victory with 64 total-points.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Becker crossed the finish line in 27th-place as he posted a final time of 23.28.9. The graduate ran an average mile time of 4:45.5 as he finished just over Brennan who came in 32nd-place at 23:31.0.
• Following Becker and Brennan was Santos Jr., as his 23:38.6 finish and 4:48.8 pace per mile led him to 49^th-place. Right behind Santos Jr. was Henderson and Malanaphy finishing at 23:43.8 and 23.57.1, respectively.
• Allison led the way in the Open 8K as he completed the race in 24.46.4 for team-best 33^rd-place at a 4:51.8 pace per mile. Hawkes crossed the finish line at 25:02.8 for second-best on the team.

QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I feel like the men gave a good account of themselves against a quality field. Three to four of the teams that finished in front of us today are nationally ranked. Today also gave us a chance to run against a lot of our regional competition and we finished ahead of all of them except Providence. A lot of positives but still work to be done," said head coach Andy Ronan

NEXT UP
Stony Brook returns to competition on Friday, October 14, to compete in the IC4A/ECAC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park, N.Y. The Seawolves will look to avenge their fourth-place overall finish from the ECAC Championship last fall. Also, junior Colin Ross and Santos Jr. are both on the hunt for another stealer performance IC4A/ECACs, as both finished top-three in the 8K Run Championship last season.
 
For an inside look at the Seawolves men's cross country program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.