ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Redshirt senior Clay Peets dominated from start to finish on the way to a record-setting performance in Saturday's Little Three Championship Saturday morning at St. Bonaventure.

Peets ran the McGraw-Jennings Field Complex 5K layout in a scorching fast time of 14:28.0 to win the event for the second time in his career. The Ohio native led wire-to-wire, prompting loud cheers from the large turnout on the Bonaventure campus.

Rain in the morning gave way to nearly perfect conditions by race time and Peets took advantage, shattering his previous school-best mark of 15:02 set two years ago when he also won the Little Three meet in Buffalo's Delaware Park.

The Bona star captured the race win by over 16 seconds, ahead of Canisius' Kyle Urban who clocked in at 14:44.6.

Canisius captured the team victory by taking finishing spots two through four and six through nine to post 22 team points to St. Bonaventure's 39 in second place. Niagara was third at 85 points.

Junior William McCarthy ranked second on the team and fifth overall with his effort of 15:12.8. For the third-year runner it easily represents a personal best, surpassing his time of 16:02.9 set in last year's event. He jumps to second individually in Bona's 5K record book as well behind only Peets.

While Canisius took finishing spots six through nine with times of 15:16-15:20, a group of Bonnies were running neck-and-neck with an opportunity to potentially sway the team scoring. Seniors Casey Malloy (15:23.8), Ethan Luce (15:27.8) along with juniors Nathan Sikorski (15:30.1) and Joshua Lopez (15:30.6) all posted new PRs. Freshman Declan McGrath (15:32.5) made his collegiate debut by finishing out the team's top seven, each of whom claimed new top-10 marks in the program record book.

Following the meet, the Bonnies celebrated Peets and graduate student Drew Carlson who will each complete their collegiate careers in December and were competing in their final home meet.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BOB MACFARLANE
"Today was an outstanding performance by the men. Clay Peets led the way with a huge PR of 14:28.0, setting a new program record and winning the race by 16 seconds. The race was highly competitive across all three teams, and our guys rose to the challenge. We had 11 men run under 16 minutes—an incredible milestone—and we completely re-wrote our top-10 record board with nine different athletes earning a spot. The depth and progression of this group are exciting to see, and it's a great sign of what's to come this season."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure is back in action Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Lock Haven Invitational.

BONNIES RESULTS
1. Clay Peets - 14:28.0 ** - SCHOOL RECORD
5. William McCarthy - 15:12.8 (PR)
10. Casey Malloy - 15:23.8 (PR)
11. Ethan Luce - 15:27.8 (PR)
12. Nathan Sikorski - 15:30.1 (PR)
13. Joshua Lopez - 15:30.6 (PR)
14. Declan McGrath - 15:32.5
16. Layne Haught - 15:34.9 (PR)
24. Alexander Rennick - 15:51.6
26. Drew Carlson - 15:55.0 (PR)
27. Canton Wetzel - 15:56.3
30. Aiden Konetsky - 16:03.6 (PR)
32. Kevin Renner - 16:11.1 (PR)
35. Nate Viele - 16:13.3
37. Jack Handman - 16:19.0
38. Lucas Catarella - 16:19.0 (PR)
41. Matthew Ryan - 16:39.9 (PR)
42. Carter Stevens - 16:45.1 (PR)
44. Tyler Schott - 17:16.4 (PR)
47. James Hoffman - 17:47.9 (PR)
48. Blake Wenger - 17:50.1

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