UMass Men's Cross Country Ranks 20th At ISU-Pre Nationals :: The Minutemen finish in top half of pack in preparation for NCAA Regional's.

Oct. 18, 2008

Terre Haute, Ind. - The men's cross country ranked 20th of 41 teams at the ISU Pre-Nationals held at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. this Saturday. Junior Nicolai Naranjo (Essex Falls, N.J.) finished first for the Minutemen with a time of 24:54.0.

This is the first time Naranjo led the pack for the team, finishing 97th of 276 runners. Placing second for the Minutemen, junior Jonathan Pierce (Hanover, Mass.) finished with a time of 24.57.3 and ranked 103rd overall. Rounding out the scoring for the Minutemen were Kevin Johnson (Ludlow, Mass.), Jesse Regnier (Hampden, Mass.) and David Johnson (Ludlow, Mass.), finishing 106, 107, and 108 respectively. Third on the team, Johnson crossed the finish line in 24:58.2, just in front of Regnier with a time of 24:58.5, followed by David Johnson with a time of 24:59. Senior Nils Fischer (Stow, Mass.) did not score byt finished just 0.7 seconds after David Johnson.

Alabama won the race with 89 points, having three runners finishing in the top ten, including the top runner, Tyson David, with a time of 23:30.1. The Minutemen travel to Charlotte, N.C. next weekend for the Atlantic 10 Championships.