ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's cross country team finished second out of 12 teams at the 2026 SUNYAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning. The host Red Dragons had three finishers in the top 15 on the 8,000-meter course to score 72 points, while Cortland won the overall title with 40 points.

Oswego had the individual champion in Noah Melita, who ran a 25:51.0.

Oneonta capitalized on strong grouping with five runners finishing from 11th to 18th. Freshman Ryan Pepples (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley Central) improved by over a minute on his personal record to place 11th in 26:34.3. Sophomore Chris Jones Jr. ran a personal best of 26:43.6 for 13th overall, and senior Chris Schimkus (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) posted a 26:45.0 for 14th place. All three earned All-SUNYAC Third Team for their placings.

Senior Noah Pickard (Batavia, NY/Batavia) crossed close behind at 26:51.2 for 16th place, while sophomore Xander Kunz (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) took 18th at 26:58.5. Senior Lucas Berg (Nyack, NY/Nyack) ran a personal record of 27:02.1 to place 20th overall.

Sophomore Nick Petro (Peru, NY/Peru) finished 28th with a personal best time of 27:24.1, and junior Vincent DiStefano (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown West) had a personal record of 27:50.1 for 39th. Sophomore Tyler Masiello (Pleasantville, NY/Westlake) crossed 48th (28:21.3), and freshman Thomas Cerna (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown) placed 54th (28:29.9).

Sophomore Aidan Mann (Levittown, NY/General Douglas MacArthur) finished 60th in 28:52.5, followed by sophomore Garrett Ryan in 61st at 28:59.8. Freshman Jack MacNary (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) and senior Cael Owen (Gillett, PA/Horseheads) rounded out the Red Dragons' finishers in 74th and 81st place, respectively.

Oneonta next competes at the NCAA Niagara Regional Championships held at Fredonia on November 14.