On a near perfect Fall-like day, the Men's Varsity Cross Country Team ran strong up front to outlast a good Alumni Team 25-32. Nine Alumni started and finished the 5 mile race at Franklin Park. Leading the way, was former two-time All-American, Jesse Darley '95. Jesse led from start to finish, pulling away in the final mile with an excellent time of 25:47.
The Varsity went out strong. Seven varsity runners and three alumni runners came through the first mile in 5:06. By the two mile mark, the lead group had thinned to four runners, Jesse, and varsity members Mike Parkins '99, Dan Feldman '02, and Mark Strauss '01, as they came through in 10:29. Alumni runners, Arnold Seto '96, Terry McNatt '86, and ultra-marathoner, Jim Garcia '80, followed closely along with varsity runners Frank Johnston '00, Jack Favilukis '02, and Leif Seed '99.
It was apparent that unless the Alumni were to move up and take three of the top five places, they would not have the depth to pull out the victory. The top Varsity runners were not to be overtaken as they ran the 3rd and 4th miles in 5:13 and 5:20 to expand their lead over the other runners.
The final mile saw leads expand but not change as the runners ran hard to the finish. Following Jesse were Parkins, Feldman, and Strauss. Seto and McNatt were next for the Alumni to make it 9-12 through three runners, in favor of the Varsity. Johnston beat Garcia to the finish to expand the lead by one point. Favilukis finished the scoring for the Varsity as he beat Josh Feldman '96, to the line by three places to secure the victory.
Strong performances were also turned in by Phil Loiselle '01, and Ed Keehr '01. Additional Alumni in the race were Omar Saleh '97, Dev Sinha '94, Mike Mollod '86, and Chuck Van Buren '98.
The Varsity our back at Franklin Park next week hosting the Engineer's Cup against RPI and WPI at 2:45.