Sept. 23, 2006

HAMDEN, Conn. - Freshman Conor Shelley (Rockville Centre, NY) and sophomore David Raucci (Clermont, NY) each cracked the top-10 overall Friday afternoon, leading the Marist College men's cross country team to a third-place finish out of 10 schools at the Quinnipiac University Invitational, held on the Quinnipiac campus.

Shelley continued his strong early-season running by placing seventh overall for the 5-mile course in 26:45.2. The time represents a 23-second improvement over his inaugural effort at the distance two weeks ago at the Dartmouth Invitational. Shelley was one of four freshmen to crack the top-7 scoring pack for Marist on this day. Raucci was ninth in 26:53.5. The Red Foxes trailed meet champion Quinnipiac (37) and runner-up Connecticut (52) with a team total of 88 points.

Freshman Mike Cator (Ridgewood, NJ) was 20th in 27:23.5. Senior captain Mike Bamberger (East Northport, NY) was 28th in 27:55.7, a whopping 1:20 faster than his Dartmouth time. Freshman Rob Fleming (Kings Park, NY) rounded out the scoring pack with a 46th-place time of 28:22.6.

Freshman James Hayden (Belle Harbor, NY) and sophomore Chris Locke (Guilford, CT) were sixth and seventh across the line for the Red Foxes, both improving on their Dartmouth performances and adding depth to the Marist squad. Junior Brandon Cartica (Pleasant Valley, NY) returned from an extended racing layoff due to injury with a solid time of 28:54.9, good for 49th place.

The Running Red Foxes ran a partial squad at Quinnipiac. The remainder of the team will be back in action Friday, Sept. 29, at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. The full Marist team will join forces again on Friday, Oct. 6, for the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Team standings:
1. Quinnipiac 37
2. Connecticut 52
3. Marist 88
4. Brown 110
5. Northeastern 150
6. New Haven 153
7. Rhode Island 158
8. Hartford 173
9-10. Wagner, Monmouth INC.

Marist Results:
7. Conor Shelley 26:45.2
9. David Raucci 26:53.5
20. Mike Cator 27:23.5
28. Mike Bamberger 27:55.7
39. Rob Fleming 28:22.6
46. James Hayden 28:46.1
47. Chris Locke 28:49.3
49. Brandon Cartica 28:54.9
51. Matt Janczyk 29:59.7
61. Omar Sow 29:29.4
64. Tom Dixon 29:40.2
65. Greg Masto 29:42.1
70. Joe Raucci 30:02.4
73. Mark Fernandez 30:12.8
75. John Kwamya 30:15.1
79. Bryan Dixon 30:36.2
82. Joe Tarantello 30:46.1
83. Chris Baum 30:55.6
84. Matt Maynes 30:58.6
90. DJ Paulson 31:57.5