GETTYSBURG, PA – The Johns Hopkins men's cross country team returned to action Saturday morning at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational, hosted by Gettysburg College, earning four top-25 finishes to place second overall in its first meet in more than two weeks.
 
The Blue Jays finished second in a 44-team field with 82 points, trailing only team champion Shippensburg, which scored 70 points.
 
Eli Merritt led the way for Hopkins, placing eighth overall among 471 runners with a time of 24:52.1. The junior was one of two Blue Jays to crack the top 10, joining Henry Zhe-Heimerman, who finished 10th in 24:58.6.
 
Graduate student Tanish Chettiar narrowly missed a top-10 finish, placing 11th overall in 25:00.4, just two seconds behind Zhe-Heimerman. Shrey Chettiar and Ani Krishnan rounded out Hopkins' top five. Chettiar finished 25th in 25:26.3, while Krishnan placed 28th in 25:28.5.
 
Hopkins returns to action Saturday, October 31, traveling to Haverford, PA, for the Centennial Conference Championships, where the Blue Jays will look to capture the program's seventh conference title.