MIT Men's Cross Country Team competed at Cortland State College in the Cortland State Invitational this past Saturday. Hoping to find an answer to their poor early season start, MIT faced 8 of the top 20 NCAA Division III Teams as well as 16 others on a flat course with a lot of 90 degree turns.

After a good week of practice, Tech felt like they were ready to start their season anew and hope for the best. The JVs began the day with a really strong showing. Rich Rosalez '98 went out close to the leaders and moved up throughout the entire race, finishing in 8th in a fine time of 27:57 on the wet course. Following pretty close behind were Gabe White '00 in 12th, Frank Johnston '00 in 22nd, Sohail Husain '98 in 25th, and David Kelman '99 in 52nd. The good grouping of the top 4 led MIT to a 4th place finish with 106 points.

The Varsity was up next and hoped to match the JV Team's performance. With 176 runners on this type of course, it was obvious that the pace would be fast at the start. MIT went out with the leaders. The top 3 runners were in a group at around 25th place at the mile mark and the second 3 were in about 65th place. Though they were running close to each other, the top 3 were not running together. The lack of communication and team support caused them to string out. By mile 3, Arnie Seto G, was feeling the fatigue of the fast pace when Mike Parkins '99 came up to him. Arnie could not respond and began the long fade back to 53rd place. Leif Seed '99, the other runner in the lead group of MIT runners, also began to fade just before the 3 mile mark and ended up 105th. The second group moved up throughout the race. Josh Feldman '97 finished very strong, just 5 seconds behind Parkins in 26:38 for 33rd place. Josh was followed closely by freshman Chris McGuire, who worked well with Josh to finish in 26:52 for 42nd place. Seto and Dan Helgesen '97 (75th) rounded out the scoring unit for a 7th place team finish.

This race was by far the best for Tech since their opening season victory over the Alumni. Feldman and McGuire provided a much needed strong race from start to finish, and only 20 seconds behind Parkins. If Seto, Helgesen, and Seed can move into their expected slots within the top 5, MIT should once again be a team not to be taken lightly.

Showing little success running from the front, the harriers will work a little harder at group running. With a week off from competition, Tech will work hard in preparation for the trip to Lacrosse, Wisconsin for the Jim Drew's Invitational. As many as 10 more top 20 teams as well as the University of Wisconsin will compete on last year's National Championship Course.