GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The St. Bonaventure men's cross country team battled adversity to finish third in Saturday's Aubrey Shenk Invitational.

In all, 11 Bonnies set new personal best times in the meet.

The Bonnies were the second-place finishers among college teams in Saturday's meet with 91 points, behind only Messiah (66). The GRC Tracksmith Running Club took the team win with 30 points.

Junior Aiden Scattergood ran in the top three of Saturday's meet, leading for much of the early going, until the final stages when a collision nearly 7K into the race with another of the leaders kept him from finishing despite being on PR, and potentially race-winning, pace.

With Scattergood unable to finish, sophomore William McCarthy took over the lead spot for the Bonnies with a new PR time of his own. He took advantage of perfect race conditions under cloudless skies on the historic Gettysburg battlefield by finishing the 8K course in a time of 26:00.7. That was good for 14^th out of 226 competitors in Saturday's race and jumps to sixth individually in the Bona's record book.

After McCarthy surpassed his previous PR by nearly 12 seconds, freshman Sam Tomm turned in a big PR as well while finishing 19^th at 26:18.6. That easily bested his previous 8K best so far this year of 27:08 set at Lock Haven last month. His time also leaps to 13^th individually in the program record book.

Ethan Luce, Joshua Lopez and Nathan Sikorski completed the team's top five and all finished in the top-26 in the large field, taking 21st, 25th and 26th respectively.

Seven Bonnies qualified for the upcoming Atlantic 10 Championships with their efforts: Tomm, Ethan Luce (26:23.0), Nathan Sikorski (26:25.5), Brendan Chapple (26:26.3), Drew Carlson (26:33.2), Aiden Konetsky (26:35.6), James Fitzmaurice (26:43.7). They join prior A-10 qualifiers Will McCarthy, Casey Malloy, Joshua Lopez, Alex Ryan and Aiden Scattergood.

Nathan Sikorski, Brendan Chapple and Drew Carlson joined the program's list of individual top-20 times as well, moving to 17th, 18th and 20th respectively. 

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BOB MACFARLANE
"The men's team showed improvement throughout the regular season with 13 out of 21 runners getting their personal best so far. Their success can be contributed to their strong desire and commitment to putting in the necessary time and effort. Their dedication has not only enhanced their individual performance but also facilitated a supportive team environment. We're excited to get several new A-10 qualifiers today which brings us to 12 overall for the A-10 Championship in two weeks. The team has really supported each other in their training to push the limits of what they can accomplish which has played a crucial role in their progress."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday, Nov. 2. The conference meet will take place at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va.

BONNIES RESULTS

14. William McCarthy – 26:00.7 (PR)
19. Sam Tomm – 26:18.6 (PR)
21. Ethan Luce – 26:23.0 (PR)
25. Joshua Lopez – 26:25.4
26. Nathan Sikorski – 26:25.5 (PR) 
27. Brendan Chapple – 26:26.3 (PR) 
32. Casey Malloy – 26:30.1
33. Drew Carlson – 26:33.2 (PR)
34. Aiden Konetsky – 26:35.6 (PR)
39. Alex Ryan – 26:42.6
41. James Fitzmaurice – 26:43.7 (PR)
56. Colin McCarthy – 27:05.7
64. Jared Deno – 27:18.1
101. Kevin Renner – 28:02.7
117. Layne Haught – 28:22.7 (PR)
127. Tyler Schott – 28:34.8
133. Carter Stevens – 28:48.8
140. Blake Wenger – 29:05.8 (PR)
156. Nick Cribbet – 29:32.0 (PR)
169. Owen Noecker – 29:54.4

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