BRUNSWICK, Me. - Sophomore Luke O'Connor of the Tufts men's cross country team was 12 and a half seconds ahead of the rest of the field to win the Bowdoin Invitational on Saturday. The Tufts team was edged by host Bowdoin and finished second of six.
O'Connor finished the eight-kilometer course in 25:39.40 to beat Bowdoin's Kevin Hoose, who crossed the finish line in 25:51.92. The victory was the first of O'Connor's Tufts career.
The Polar Bears, however, scored in the second through sixth spots for a score of 20. Tufts showed more depth, with 11 Jumbos placing among the top 18, but compiled a second-place team score of 35.
Following O'Connor's win, the Jumbos scored from seventh place through 11th. Senior co-captain Nick Guarnaccia and classmate Joseph St. Pierre were less than a second apart in seventh (26:06.04) and eighth (26:06.96), respectively. Fellow senior Marshall Pagano wasn't far behind, running 26:08.20 for ninth.
Junior Michael Curley was the fifth Tufts scorer, posting a 26:09.30 time that was 10th overall. Senior Colin McCrory finished just outside the top 10 with a 26:11.12 time for 11th place.
After Bowdoin in first with a 20 score and Tufts' 35 for second, Johnson & Wales was the third-place squad more than 70 points behind at 112.
Head Coach Ethan Barron's Jumbos return to action in two weeks when they travel to Western Massachusetts for the annual Williams College Purple Valley Classic.
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