WESTFIELD, Mass.-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men's cross country team finished first in the 25-team field at the James Earley Invitational, hosted by Westfield State at Stanley Park Saturday.

The men won their race with 72 points, 24 points ahead of second-place Trinity.

Junior Nick Santoro (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was the top finisher for the men, finishing seventh in the five mile race in 26:53. Freshman Jeremy Francisco (Dartmouth, Mass.) was 11th in 27:00, senior Tim Whelan (Abington, Mass.) was 19th in 27:15, sophomore Kevin Gilmore (Hanson, Mass.) was 21st in 27:18, sophomore Steve Burke (Norwell, Mass.) was 23rd in 27:21, and junior Eric Nygaard (Medway, Mass.) was 36th in 27:56. Senior David Buschini (Newburyport, Mass.) finished in 28:51, sophomore Ryan Sechovicz (Kingston, Mass.) finished in 29:27, junior Wes Meserve (Merrimack, Mass.) finished in 30:06, freshman Brad Spooner (Carver, Mass.), finished in 30:49, and sophomore Kevin Cordaro (Whitman, Mass.) finished in 32:53. Places for the final five UMD runners were not available due to technical difficulties.

`I'm happy with the way both teams ran," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jon Hird. "The men felt that they could win, and they came in and really took control at the two mile mark and wouldn't let go. We got a very dependable race from Nick Santoro, and we've come to expect that from him, along with really solid efforts from Tim Whelan and Kevin Gilmore. We got a really impressive performance from Jeremy Francisco, who was only seven seconds behind Nick, and from Steve Burke, and our pack time was 28 seconds, which is very good. The women ran very well on what was a very tiring course because of all the mud and the difficult footing. Caitlin ran very well, and finishing eighth is a good effort."

The Corsairs will return to action when they visit the Albany Invitational next Saturday.

UMASS DARTMOUTH CROSS COUNTRY