Christopher Barker (middle) finished fourth out of 83 runners at the Saint Joseph's College Invitational on Oct. 12, 2019. (File photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)STANDISH, Maine -- With seven of its top runners being held out to rest up for next week's Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble, the No. 17 nationally ranked Bates men's cross country team still recorded an impressive first-place finish among eight teams Saturday at the Runnin' Monks Invitational at Saint Joseph's College.
The Bobcats scored 28 points to easily outpace runner-up University of New England (75). Thomas (97) and St. Joe's (97) tied for third place, followed by Emerson (146), Regis (151), UMaine-Presque Isle (161) and Central Maine Community College (214).
First-year Daniel McConnell (Califon, N.J.) led seven Bobcats who all finished in the top 10 among 83 individuals, covering the 8-kilometer course in 27:53.1 to place third overall. Junior Christopher Barker (Burlington, Vt.) followed in fourth place overall (28:01.1), with sophomore Nicholas Reznik (Bar Harbor, Maine) in sixth (28:02.4), junior Alex Brovender (Boxford, Mass.) in seventh (28:06.9) to round out the team scoring.
Bates' scoring displacers were first-year Mack Reynolds (West Hartford, Conn.) in ninth place (28:16.1) and firs-tyear Ezra Parkhill (San Francisco, Calif.) in 10th (28:26.5), trailed closely behind by sophomore John Mieszczanski (Chelmsford, Mass.) in 11th (28:26.9).
Bates will compete in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble next Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11:15am.
