QU Men’s Cross Country Opens 2015 Season with 4th Place Finish at Stony Brook Invitational

Saturday, September 5

Stony Brook Cross Country Course - Stony Brook, N.Y.

11:15 am

Quinnipiac University

Stony Brook Invitational

Photo by: Stony Brook Athletics

QU Men’s Cross Country Opens 2015 Season with 4th Place Finish at Stony Brook Invitational

9/5/2015 3:17:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

By: QU Sports Information

STONY BROOK, New York – The Quinnipiac men's cross country team kicked off their 2015 campaign with a 4^th place finish at the Stony Brook Invitational. The Bobcats (85 points) were paced by a pair of career days from senior Matt Mensher (Tolland, Connecticut) and junior Dylan Fearon (Tenafly, New Jersey) while the host Seawolves claimed the team victory with 50 points.

"This was a good opener for us," said Quinnipiac head coach Carolyn Martin. "Our guys put forth a solid effort considering the full team wasn't out there. For the first one out, I thought the performances and effort was good. I was happy with how the guys packed up. I think we can do even better than that in two weeks."

Mensher guided the Bobcats, leading the team with a 6^th place finish out of 57 total competitors. His 6^th place finish tied his career-high for the best overall finishing place in his four-year career, having matched his finish from the 2014 Stony Brook Invitational. Even though he came one spot short of his first career Top 5 finish, Mensher's time on Saturday (18:58.35) bested his time from the 2014 Stony Brook Invitational (19:12.42) by more than 13 full seconds.

Another strong contender on the day for the Bobcats was Fearon who crossed the line in 11^th place overall. Fearon's 11^th place finish not only set a new career-high but it also represented the highest finishing spot for him on the team (2^nd) as he previously had a career-best of 3^rd among Bobcat runners. Competing in his 16^th career event and also his 2^nd appearance in the Stony Brook Invitational, Fearon's time of 19:10.87 was nearly a full minute faster than his 2013 time (20:07.57) in the same event.

As Coach Martin indicated in her post-meet comments, the Bobcats put forth a solid pack of runners behind the top two finishers on the team. Junior Kyle Liang (Norwich, Connecticut) paced the Bobcats' pack and tied his career-high with a 21^st place finish, clocking in at 19:27.41. Much like Mensher and Fearon, Liang's time was a drastic improvement from his previous Stony Brook Invitational appearances in 2014 (20:08.03) and 2013 (20:25.40).

The pack continued with freshman Ryan Ansel (Danbury, Connecticut), who teamed up with redshirt senior Thomas Dextradeur (Branford, Connecticut) to place 23^rd and 24^th, respectively. Ansel crossed the line in 19:32.97 in his first career appearance for Quinnipiac while Dextradeur clocked in at 19:37.87.

Rounding out the field for Quinnipiac was sophomore Tyler Mannion (Brookfield, Connecticut) and sophomore Connor McAlary (Shoreham, New York). Racing in his first event since Sept. 6, 2014 and just second career event overall for the Bobcats, Mannion posted a 26^th place result with a time of 19:43.37. Meanwhile, McAlary crossed the line in 37^th place overall with a time of 20:03.87.

Quinnipiac will have a week off before heading down to New Jersey for the Rider Invitational on Sept. 19.