NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's cross country team placed 24th at the Connecticut College Invitational at nearby Harkness Memorial State Park on Saturday. Like the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University just two weeks prior, the meet featured a significant number of nationally ranked teams.

The meet featured two races, a White Division race for teams outside of regional rankings, along with sub-varsity squads from teams holding regional rankings; and a Blue Championship race, for the varsity squads of teams holding regional or national rankings.

In the White Division, juniors Jack Cura (Cape May, N.J.) and Grant Kellenberger (Mohnton, Pa.) led the way, both running season bests of 27:45 and 27:57, respectively. They were followed by strong showings from Aidan Scott (Wheeling, W.Va.) at 28:03; Evan Rimmele (Middletownm N.J.) at 28:09; Christian Gottlieb (Harpers Ferry, W.Va.) at 28:17; Aaron Letner (Rapid City, S.D.) at 28:18; and Drew Torell (South Kingstown, R.I.) at 28:38. Each runner notched new personal bests for the 8k as CGA finished 27th out of 37 teams.

In the Blue Championship, the team was headed up by a historic one-two punch from Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.) and local legend Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.). The duo ran almost the entire race within a few seconds of each other, with Hobbs just out-pacing Fant in the final 200m. Their times of 25:04 and 25:05 are now the fastest in Academy history at Harkness Park, and Fant's 52-second personal best catapulted him into fourth in program history for the 8k.

Sophomore James Kuduk (Harleysville, Pa.) was just off his personal best with a 26:19, while freshman Graham Fenn (Hyattsville, Md.) notched a great race, knocking over 40 seconds off his previous best 8k. Miles Taylor (Austin, Tex.) rounded out the Bears' top five scorers with Carlos Garcia (Bristow, Va.) right behind him, both also setting new cross country bests. As a team, the Bears finished 24th overall in the loaded class, which featured 12 nationally-ranked programs. 

"The men performed really well today. Two weeks ago our performances were a bit more up and down, while today nearly everyone ran quite well," says head coach Greg Ahnrud. "A few people significantly exceeded expectations. I've been telling Brendan all season he is ready to do more and today he, Graham, and Miles all did just that. This was a great step in the right direction heading into NEWMACs and Regionals, as we were able to notch some wins against teams who were ahead of us at Paul Short."

As Coach Ahnrud said, postseason is on the horizon for Bears men's cross country, with the team set to compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship two weeks from now on November 1st. Coast Guard was fourth overall at last season's meet, with Hobbs leading finishing 19th overall in 26:03. After NEWMACs is the D3 Challenge on November 8th, hosted by Conn College at Stenger Farm Park, and then the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship, hosted by St. Lawrence University.

RESULTS