Waterford, CT --- Graduate student Everett Mosher (Chester, VT) raced to a runner-up finish to lead the No. 19 WPI men's cross country team to eighth place in the premier Blue race at the Conn College Invite on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mosher completed the 8K course in 24:00.3, finishing second behind Wesleyan's Dylan Cote (North Andover, MA), who won in 23:52.8. The two remained virtually even deep into the race before Cote pulled ahead over the closing stretch to earn the victory by under eight seconds.
 
Freshman Nicholas Falcone (Morris Plains, NJ) was the next Engineer across the line, placing 54th in 25:02.4, while junior Drew O'Reilly (Syracuse, NY) followed one spot behind in 55th with a time of 25:02.6.
 
Freshman Nathaniel Henshaw (Templeton, MA) took 58th in 25:04.5, with classmate Tucker Presnell (Oakland, CA) close behind in 60th at 25:05.2 to complete WPI's scoring five. Sophomore Matthew Meerdink (Ballston Spa, NY) crossed 67th in 25:11.5, while junior Colin Britner (Hampton, CT) placed 91st in 25:31.1.
 
Also racing in the Blue event, junior Jackson Sobelman (Redding, CT) crossed the line in 26:20.3, followed by sophomore Giuseppe Villani (Shrewsbury, MA) in 26:25.0 and junior Alden Betterley (Bow, NH) in 26:32.7 to round out WPI's race contingent.
 
WPI totaled 225 points to place eighth in a loaded 26-team Blue field that featured 12 nationally ranked programs. No. 10 MIT captured the team title with 57 points, followed by No. 16 Williams with 120 and No. 21 Wesleyan with 173. The Engineers finished just four points behind No. 22 Colby in seventh and placed ahead of No. 26 Lynchburg, No. 25 Middlebury and No. 24 Lebanon Valley among nationally ranked opponents.
 
WPI also placed 11th in the 33-team White race with 408 points. Senior Ryan Coceano (Cinnaminson, NJ) led the Engineers' scoring five with a 56th-place finish in 26:21.3. Freshman Adam Lewis (Medford, MA) placed 71st in 26:36.9, freshman Tim Schribman (Lowell, MA) was 83rd in 26:44.2, senior Trip Williams (Pelham, NH) finished 116th in 27:06.2 and freshman Connor Earle (Duxbury, MA) completed the scoring five in 131st with a time of 27:18.3.
 
WPI returns to action on Saturday, October 31st at the NEWMAC Championships, hosted by Smith College. The men's race is scheduled for a noon start.
 
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