Junior B.J. Smith and senior Colton Ham finished one behind the other in 10th and 11th place, to lead the way for Dage Minors and his Franklin Pierce University Men's Cross Country teammates at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
Junior Jon Holmes finished in 18th made it three in the top-20, as Franklin Pierce finished fourth out of 43 teams.
Franklin Pierce finished as the Second Division II squad competing at the event, as their 141 points were bettered only by Brandeis (93 points), East Stroudsburg (116) and Connecticut College (125). East Stroudsburg is a fellow Division II member, while the other two compete at the Division III level. Another Division III member, Keene State (176), rounded out the top five behind Franklin Pierce.
Smith put together a five-mile time of 25:37.18, which was good for an average mile of 5:07.5 and put him 10th in the 324-runner field. Ham was hot on his heels with a 25:38.56 to place 11th, while Holmes took 18th in 25:55.35. The remainder of Franklin Pierce's scoring five placed in the top 60, as freshman Christopher Lord placed 54th with a time of 26:47.29, and junior Minors finished 60th with a time of 26:50.29.
Individually, Southern New Hampshire junior Ignatio Hernando took home the title with a time of 25:13.61. He edged out Southern Connecticut State senior Dieter Gutbrod (25:15.01) by less than two seconds at the line.
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