Six things you need to know about the 2024 Men's Cross Country Team
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT men's cross country team opens the 2024 season at the Terry Rodenbeck Invitational at St. John Fisher, Friday (Aug. 30). Here are six things you need to know about the squad.
REGIONALLY RANKED
The Tigers come into the season ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA preseason regional rankings which is two spots higher than their season ending rank of sixth in 2023.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION
Coming into the 2024 season, RIT is looking to build off the 2023 season that saw the Tigers win the Highlander Invitational and placing fourth out of 34 teams at Lehigh University's Paul Short Run.
NOTABLE RETURNERS
RIT brings back three of it's top runners from last year's team that placed sixth at the Niagara Regional Championship. Out of the runners who scored in that race, juniors Derick Koen, Evan Owens, and Joe Krenzer are back. Koen was the top finisher for the Tigers by taking 11th place overall, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
NEW FACES
There are plenty of new faces on the team this fall after 10 first-years were added to the roster. Casey Atkinson, Benicio Benzan, Brandon Blandino, Spencer Buff, Nate Flaherty, Mason Hintze, Zayne Howley, Nathan Merlo, John Neudeck, and Sean Obermayer make up the incoming class. The Tigers also added Jeffrey Gibbs, a graduate transfer from Bucknell University.
QUICK TRIPS
The Tigers won't need to travel outside of New York State the entire season, including the Liberty Leage Championships race which will be hosted by St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.. Should they qualify, this year's NCAA Division III National Championships will be held in Terre Haute, Ind.
2024 SCHEDULE
RIT is scheduled to run in six meets this fall before the postseason. After their opening meet at St. John Fisher, the Tigers will stay close to home when they compete at the University of Rochester's Yellowjacket Invitational (Sep. 21) at Genesee Valley Park. The team will then run the Harry F. Anderson Invitational at Roberts Wesleyan University (Sep. 28) and the Kara Hall Memorial Invitational at Fredonia State (Oct. 5). The Tigers continue the season at Houghton University's Highlander Invitational (Oct. 12) and Geneseo's Mike Woods Invitational (Oct. 19). This year's postseason starts out with the Liberty League Championships (Nov. 2), which will be hosted at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. Fredonia hosts the Niagara Region Championships (Nov. 16) prior to the NCAA Division III Championships (Nov. 23) at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
Players Mentioned
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Players Mentioned
- 6' 0"
- Sophomore
- 6' 0"
- Sophomore
- 5' 6"
- Sophomore
- 6' 0"
- Graduate Student
- First Year
- 6' 0"
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- 6' 1"
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- 5' 11"
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