BALTIMORE, MD – The third-ranked Johns Hopkins men's cross country team turned in its strongest performances of the season on Saturday, competing at both the Connecticut College Invitational in Waterford, CT, and the Rowan Border Battle in Gloucester, NJ.
 
In a stacked 34-team Blue Race at Connecticut College, the Blue Jays claimed the team title with 96 points, edging out 11 nationally-ranked opponents — including four top-10 teams: No. 4 NYU, No. 7 SUNY Geneseo, No. 8 Williams and No. 9 Tufts.
 
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Hopkins finished eighth overall with 191 points in another deep field, placing behind No. 16 Carnegie Mellon, the meet champion, and Emory.
 
Senior Emmanuel Leblond delivered another standout performance for Hopkins, capturing the individual title in a field of 269 runners. It marked his fifth consecutive regular-season race as the top Division III finisher.
 
Leblond crossed the line first, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Ryan Hagan of SUNY Geneseo. In the process, he broke the meet record previously held by Williams' Elias Lindgren, clocking in at 23:41.94—one second faster than the previous mark. His dominant showing led a strong contingent of Blue Jays, with four runners placing in the top 30.
 
Sophomore Brady Ott turned in an impressive race of his own, finishing 21st overall with a personal-best time of 24:30.2—just under 50 seconds behind Leblond. He was closely followed by freshman Cedar Nichols-Barnhart (23^rd | 24:31), junior Kenny Wanlass (24^th | 24:31.9) and sophomore Olaf Dietz (27^th | 24:33.6), all of whom also recorded new personal bests.
 
At Rowan, sophomore Aakash Iyer led the charge for Hopkins, placing 18th overall out of 340 runners. Iyer recorded a personal-best time of 25:10.2, pacing a group of four Blue Jays who finished among the top 60.
 
Freshman Tyson Bhalla continued his strong debut season, placing 21st with a personal-best 25:13.2, while fellow freshman Henry Zhe-Heimerman finished 50th in 25:47. Sophomore Dane Spahr followed closely behind in 51st with a time of 25:48.
 
Graduate student Andrew Myers rounded out the scoring for Hopkins, placing 57th in 25:53.3.
 
The Blue Jays return to action on Saturday, November 1, at the Centennial Conference Championships in Gettysburg, PA, where they'll look to defend their title and capture a fourth-straight team championship.