WATERFORD, Conn. – The regionally-ranked St. Olaf College men's cross country team finished 12th out of 26 teams in a strong field at the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday at Harkness Memorial State Park.

St. Olaf got personal-best eight-kilometer times from seven of its 10 runners but finished near the middle of the team standings while aiming to gain potential valuable head-to-head advantages over out-of-region teams at the meet. The Oles, who were ranked No. 4 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) North Region Poll this week, accumulated 341 points in the standings, finishing behind all 10 nationally-ranked teams in the field and one other unranked team.

Junior Garrett Seppanen topped his previous personal-best 8K time by over one minute and logged the No. 11 8K performance in program history by finishing 26th in 24:41.7. Sophomore Connor Hitchcock bested his personal-best time by over 30 seconds in 25:19.1 to place 75th, while senior Lex Kaye posted an over 45-second PR in 25:25.0 to take 84th.

Seniors Quinn McCabe and Alex Bjork were also in the top 100, with McCabe placing 92nd with an over 30-second PR of 25:32.3. Bjork was just one-tenth of a second behind McCabe in 93rd (25:32.4).

While St. Olaf's top group was in Connecticut, the rest of the team ran at the Saint Ben's and Saint John's Autumn Classic, taking second in the nine-team field. Senior Ethan Cozine (4th, 26:38.5), junior Micah Larsen-Schmidt (8th, 26:48.2), and first year James Grothe (9th, 26:49.8) were in the top 10 individually.

The Oles will prepare for hosting the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31 at noon.