WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Bates men's cross country team backed up its national ranking with a sixth-place finish out of 26 teams Saturday at the Connecticut College Invitational.

The 23rd-ranked Bobcats scored 194 points, edging No. 35 Vassar (195) by a point to claim sixth place. No. 3 Williams took first place with 37 points, six points ahead of No. 4 MIT (43). The remaining top 10 teams were No. 18 Middlebury in third (114), No. 16 RPI in fourth (143), No. 32 Connecticut College in fifth (170), No. 23 Bates in sixth (194), No. 35 Vassar in seventh (195), Tufts in eighth (215), George Fox in ninth (216) and No. 34 WPI in 10th (246). No. 28 Amherst was 11th (303).

Only 64 seconds separated Bates first and fifth runners, while Bates' two displacers finished ahead of any other team's, save for Williams and MIT.

Senior Jackson Donahue (Princeton, N.J.) led Bates for the fourth time in as many races this season, finishing 16th out of 192 individuals with a time of 25:12.8. 

Junior Eli Boesch Dining (Concord, N.H.) placed 35th overall, covering the 8-kilometer course at Harkness State Park in 25:51.4. Senior Bart Rust (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) came in 43rd (25:59.9), followed by junior Ryan Smith (Westport, Conn.) in 48th (26:05.0) and sophomore Ned Farrington (Cohasset, Mass.) in 54th (26:16.9). Bates' displacers were senior John Mieszczanski (Chelmsford, Mass.) in 72nd place (26:37.2) and sophomore Sam Kartsonis (Harriton, Pa.) in 73rd (26:37.4).

Bates also placed seventh among 19 teams in the meet's JV race. First-year Ben Huston (Vergennes, Vt.) led the Bobcats in 20th place out of 221 individuals with a time of 26:53.3.

Bates will compete at the Bowdoin Invitational next Saturday, with the men's race at 10:30am and the women's race at 11:30.