The men’s cross country team had a strong showing Saturday as they took second place at the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton College.

Senior Scott Walker (26:37) led the team with a ninth place finish, followed directly by freshman Nathan Bickell, who finished in 10th with a personal best 26:44. Senior Brian Ivory (26:57) and freshman Billy Savage finished 15th and 16th, respectively, with Savage achieving personal bests in both time and position. Sophomore Jacob Brower (27:05), junior A.J. McConville (27:25) and senior Brian Riley (27:50) rounded out Ithaca’s top seven, placing in 19th, 24th, and 36th.  Brower and McConville had personal best times.

Rochester Institute of Technology took the title outright in Houghton. RIT runners placed in all of the top five spots, giving them only 15 points and the title. Ithaca tallied 60 points in its second-place finish. SUNY-Oswego took third with 104 points and Alfred University edged out host Houghton College by merely four points to take fourth place. RIT’s Jared Burdick was the meet’s top finisher with a total time of 25:27.

Next week, Ithaca travels down to Bethlehem, Pa. to compete in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University.