ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's cross-country team finished the Yellowjacket 8K Invitational in eighth place, Saturday afternoon in Rochester. Sophomore Xander Kunz (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) and senior Noah Pickard (Batavia, NY/Batavia) led Oneonta with top 50 finishes overall out of 218 runners. Oneonta averaged a time of 26:58.8 as a team, while Geneseo won the team event with an average time of 25:25.7. 

"One of the best 8k openers we have had in a while as a team," said Associate Head Coach Meghann Tanner. "There were a lot of personal records and movement in the right direction as our season moves forward."

Kunz was Oneonta's top performer, finishing the race at 26:28.8 for 37th place. After taking 76th in the first 2K split, the Red Dragon sophomore sprinted by 34 runners during the next 4K, then he ran a 6:31.5 in the final 2K to get past another five competitors.

Pickard was the second Red Dragon to finish with a time of 26:44.3 for a 49th place finish. The senior slipped past 20 runners from the 2K-split to the 6K-split, then he outran eight more people in the final 2K with a 6:33.4 time.

Sophomore Christopher Jones Jr. (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) crossed the finish line shortly after Pickard at 26:54.0 to finish 57th overall and third on the team. Junior Lucas Berg (Nyack, NY/Nyack) was fourth for the Red Dragons with a 76th place finish at 27:19.8, and sophomore Alexander Wheeler (Colonie, NY/Colonie Central) took 82nd overall at 27:27.0 for Oneonta's fifth finisher.

Senior Chris Schimkus (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) finished sixth for Oneonta with a time of 27:46.0, while junior Vincent DiStefano (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown West) and sophomore Nick Petro (Peru, NY/Peru) were right before him at 27:51.0 and 27:57.6, respectively.

Oneonta heads to western New York for their next race on Friday, October 2, for the Fredonia State Kara Hall Memorial Invite in Fredonia at 12 pm.