After conceding the crown to American International a year ago, Dage Minors and his Franklin Pierce University Men's Cross Country teammates reclaimed the title at their own meet, winning the third annual Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds.
Senior Colton Ham led Franklin Pierce by placing second at the meet, which also served as a preview for the NCAA Championship East Regional.
Ham claimed second with a 5k time of 15:25, which was good for an average mile time of 4:58. He was the first of four Franklin Pierce runners to finish in the top 10, while all five of Franklin Pierce's scoring spots crossed the line in the top 11 finishers. Following Ham were junior Minors in fifth clocking 15:36, junior B.J. Smith in sixth with a time of 15:49 and junior Jon Holmes finished in seventh recording a time of 15:50. Junior Dylan Crowley rounded out the scoring positions for Franklin Pierce by placing 11th with a time of 16:00.
It all added up to just 29 points for Franklin Pierce, which posted a nine-point victory over second-place Southern New Hampshire (38 points). The two ran away from the rest of the field, as Adelphi (80), Merrimack (106) and Bentley (107) rounded out the top five, in that order.
Individually, Ham was edged by just two seconds for first place by Southern New Hampshire's Ignatio Hernando (15:23). Behind Ham, Adelphi's Michael Grady in third (15:29), Southern New Hampshire's Tyler McLaren in fourth (15:33) and Minors in fifth rounded out the top five.
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