ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University men's cross country team finished 8^th out of 10 teams at the St. John Fisher Rodenbeck Invitational on Friday evening.
 
The Saxons defeated Empire 8 foes, Hartwick College and Keuka College.
 
"It turned out to be a great day for our competition. The rain held off and the temperature and humidity were just about perfect for a cross country race," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The Saxons showed up today and put down some solid results. The men had an average time of 47 seconds faster than last year. The top five guys ran a team time of four minutes faster than our opening race of the 2024 season. Jake [Taylor] cut over a minute off his time, and Finn [Dean] cut off two minutes!"
 
Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca) had the top finish for the Saxons with a time of 20:59.9 during the 6K race. He finished 47^th overall and 32^nd in scoring. A pair of first-years found spots in the top five for AU as Seth Stevens (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was the next Saxon to cross the finish line with a time of 21:27.1. Senior Finnegan Dean (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam Central) was hot on his heals with a time of 21:31.3 for 40^th place in scoring. The other first-year to finish in the top five was Evan Foran (Vestal, NY/Vestal) as he ran a 23:06.0 just ahead of Damian Brown (Homer, NY/Homer) and his time of 23:51.1.
 
The Saxons won't compete again until late September. They will next run at the University of Rochester on September 20.