LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Yet another school record from redshirt senior Clay Peets highlighted a day of personal bests for the St. Bonaventure men's cross country team at the Lock Haven Invitational.

Peets came across the finish line with a new Bonaventure best in the 8K Crimson Race, taking second overall in the field of 209 competitors.

The fifth-year runner posted a time of 24:15.1, just over a second better than his previous program record mark set two years ago on this same course.

Three weeks removed from winning the Little Three Championship with a program record 5K time in the season-opener, Peets nearly claimed victory again as he was neck-and-neck with the leaders throughout the race. At the line, Mike Formica of Indiana (PA) was able to edge out Peets with a winning time of 24:12.7 while Peets was four seconds ahead of third-place as the lead trio clearly established dominance in the meet.

For the rest of the Bonnies squad, it was a race to put a dent in the program record books as well.

William McCarthy (25:45.2), Nathan Sikorski (25:49.9), Drew Carlson (26:02.4), Casey Malloy (26:08.1) and Ethan Luce (26:16.9) all established PR marks with top-20 times in school history.

McCarthy remains sixth in the program record book but bested his previous PR by 15 seconds. Sikorski, who along with McCarthy gives the Bonnies seven individuals to break the 26-minute barrier in 8K races, jumps to seventh in the record book after crushing his previous best time of 26:25.

Carlson also smashed his previous PR by 31 seconds to move into eighth-place in school history, just ahead of Malloy who stands 10^th and Luce who jumps to 14^th.

As a team, the Bonnies placed seventh out of 22 squads.

In the White 8K race, two freshmen led the Bonnies as Nate Viele finished 19^th out of 153 competitors at 27:32.4, just two spots ahead of classmate Jack Handman who crossed the stripe at 27:36.

Bona scored fifth out of 18 teams in the White race.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BOB MACFARLANE
"The men really had a big day. The course at Lock Haven is challenging: rolling terrain, with opportunities to make moves. I saw some excellent competitiveness and energy across the board — athletes were pushing through the course and executing race tactics.

"As always, the early miles are key: getting out aggressive but controlled, finding your rhythm, and positioning for the second half of the 8K. It was a strong start for our top six runners; all had their personal best today with three others accomplishing the same goal. Our seventh to 10th runners held together and minimized big spreads. That consistency is a backbone for team scoring.

"We need to minimize the spread from one through five from 1:53 to just under a minute to raise the bar in team scoring. Today wasn't perfect, but there's a lot to build on. I'm proud of the fight and the effort. We'll tell the guys to carry today's lessons forward by getting better race by race."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will travel to one of the nation's most prestigious events next weekend to compete in the Live in Lou Classic hosted by the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Crimson 8K

BONNIES RESULTS

2. Clay Peets – 24:15.1 ** - SCHOOL RECORD
42. William McCarthy – 25:45.2 (PR)
46. Nathan Sikorski – 25:49.9 (PR)
57. Drew Carlson – 26:02.4 (PR)
62. Casey Malloy – 26:08.1 (PR)
70. Ethan Luce – 26:16.9 (PR)
86. Joshua Lopez – 26:39.7
94. Aiden Konetsky – 26:44.6
106. Alexander Rennick – 26:56.4
110. Layne Haught – 27:00.7 (PR)
142. Kevin Renner – 27:30.5 (PR)
157. Declan McGrath – 28:08.1

White 8K

19. Nate Viele – 27:32.4
21. Jack Handman – 27:36.0
31. Matthew Ryan – 27:54.4
56. Lucas Catarella – 28:26.2
57. Carter Stevens – 28:29.5
86. James Hoffman – 29:26.7
92. Blake Wenger – 29:36.2
104. Tyler Schott – 30:10.1

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