ALBANY, N.Y. - Sophomore Nick Salek (Morris Plains, N.J.) of the Marist men's cross country team won the Purple Race at the UAlbany Invitational on Saturday. Salek ran a personal-best 26:49.5 on the 8,000-meter course.

Sophomores Billy Hild (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), Ben Windisch (Huntington, N.Y.) and Nick Hughes (Stony Point, N.Y.) also recorded top-10 finishes by placing sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Both also set PRs. Sophomore Andrew James (Bellmore, N.Y.) also set a personal-best time en route to a 15^th-place finish overall.

In the Championship Race, which also covered 8,000 meters, senior Brian Townsend (East Setauket, N.Y.) paced a partial Marist squad with a 38^th-place finish in 26:34.9. The next three Marist finishers - freshman Mark Valentino (Smithtown, N.Y.), freshman Ian Dorset (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and senior Ryan Fitzsimons (Turner, Maine) - all set personal bests.

The Marist men's cross country team will return to action on Friday, Oct. 28 at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, which will be held at Van Cortlandt Park.

UAlbany Invitational

Championship Race (8,000 meters)

Team results: 1-Albany 36; 2-Binghamton 51; 3-Middlebury 89; 4-New Hampshire 154; 5-Brandeis 164; 6-Colgate 211; 7-St. Francis 228; 8-Keene State 229; 9-Hartford 238; 10-Canisius 240; 11-Marist 308; 12-Siena 350; 13-Sacred Heart 366; 14-Springfield 370; 15-Niagara 384; 16-Ramapo 436; 17-Daemon 475; 18-Fairleigh Dickinson 521; 19-LIU 522; 20-St. Bonaventure 539; 21-Molloy 565.

Individual Marist results: 38-Brian Townsend 26:34.9; 61-Mark Valentino 27:00.7; 73-Ian Dorset 27:11.6; 78-Ryan Fitzsimons 27:17.6; 81-Ryan Scrudato 27:25.2; 93-Thomas Lappas 27:39.7; 95-Rob Gorski 27:42.7; 111-Michael Keegan 28:10.6.

UAlbany Invitational

Purple Race (8,000 meters)

Team results: 1-Albany 32; 2-Marist 34; 3-Middlebury 64; 4-Springfield 110.