EAST LANSING, MI – The Johns Hopkins men's cross country team finished in sixth place at the Spartan Invitational in a preview of the 2022 NCAA Championship course. The Blue Jays finished second among the Division III teams competing in the race.
Hopkins totaled 166 points to finish just three points behind 19-time national champion North Central. The Blue Jays finished two points ahead of third-ranked John Carroll and 63 points better than sixth-ranked SUNY Geneseo. Division II Grand Valley State won the invitational with 45 points, followed by Cincinnati (89), Michigan State (115), Kent State (162) and North Central (163) to round out the top five.
The Blue Jays five scoring runners all finished in the top 64, with a sixth runner placing 65
th. Senior
Matthew Kleiman led the way for Hopkins with an 18
th-place finish and a time of 25:14.53. Freshman
Emmanuel Leblond followed closely in 25:17.54 to place 19
th. Kleiman and Leblond were the fourth and fifth Division III runners, respectively, to cross the finish line.
Junior
Gavin McElhennon ran a 25:38.46 to finish in 38
th place, while freshman
Rowan Cassidy placed 51
st with a time of 25:51.21. Senior
Daniel Chen rounded out the Blue Jay scorers as he finished in 64
th place (26.07.07) and edged junior
Sean Enright by less just 0.39 seconds (26.07.46).
Hopkins returns to action in two weeks at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA.
