ROCHESTER, NY -- The Alfred University men's cross country team jumped ahead of competitors towards a top 20 finish at Genesee Valley Park in the NCAA Division III Niagara Regional 8K.

"Fantastic day for the Saxons! Regionals has typically been a tough day for us but today they flipped that script," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "We had three of our seven guys run their best race ever today! Three others were within half a minute or less of their best. I couldn't ask for a better performance on arguably the biggest stage these men have competed on. This has been a great group and we've had such an incredible season. Now we will switch gears as we head inside to the track. It's a quick turnaround as we will compete in just three weeks."

First-year Seth Stevens (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) came home first for AU with a time of 27:26.4. He jumped up over 20 positions in the first kilometer alone, ending up 40 positions above his starting position. Finnegan Dean (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam Central) was trailing right behind just a second later.

Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca) was also just over 10 seconds behind the front runners. Evan Foran (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Damian Brown (Homer, NY/Homer) came in separated by just over 10 seconds themselves with respective times of 29:09.9 and 29:21.5.

Aidan Bieron (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West) and Zach Schultz (Middleport, NY/Royalton-Hartland) wrapped up the final two positions for the Saxons in the competition. Alfred University will turn their attention to track and field season for some, while preparing for next fall's cross country season as well.