WESTFIELD, Mass. – Graduate student
Mike Olson (Sutton, Mass.) laid down a career time to blow away the field and lead the Plymouth State University men's cross country team to a third place team finish at the James Earley Invitational hosted by Westfield State on Saturday.
Olson claimed his second individual victory in a row after topping a field of 199 runners, breaking the 25-minute barrier for the first time with a mark of 24:56.41. His time not only beat the next closest finisher by 20 seconds, but was just 15 seconds shy of the course record.
The Panthers took third as a team and finished far ahead of the next best Little East Conference (LEC) team in Western Connecticut, which ended up 23rd. PSU now has back-to-back top-three team finishes and has not finished outside the top-ten this season.
The Basics:
- James Earley Invitational – 3rd of 24 Teams
Notable Team Scores:
- Wesleyan (1st – 56 points), RPI (2nd – 83), Plymouth State (3rd – 107), Roger Williams (4th – 143), Plattsburg State (5th – 197), St. Michael's (6th – 238), Conn. College (13th – 328), WestConn (23rd – 302)
How it Happened:
- Olson took first in a career-best time of 24:56.41, while junior Jacob Gallaher (Gambrills, Md.) took sixth in 25:48.43, which was ten seconds off his career best.
- Senior Michael Barrett (Hartford, Conn.) crossed the line in the top-30 in a time of 26:40.65.
- Junior Connor Wilcox (Colchester, Conn.) moved up to fourth on the team with a time of 26:56.08 and a top-40 finish.
- The duo of freshman Cooper O'Neil (Millbury, Mass.) and junior Dylan Flewelling (Oakland, Maine) added top-50 finishes with times of 27:05.55 and 27:07.96, while graduate student Colin Moar (Annandale, Va.) was right on their heels in 27:14.71.
- Sophomore Luke Cloutier (Waterboro, Maine) capped off the top-eight for the Panthers with a time of 28:04.76.
- Senior Luke Gomes (Litchfield, N.H.) represented the Panthers in the men's JV race with a seventh-place finish in 27:39.96, just eight seconds away from his career best.
Up Next:
- The Panthers head to Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. for the Suffolk Invitational next Saturday (Oct. 14).
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