SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Dayton men's cross country team placed fifth of 13 NCAA Division I programs Friday at the National Catholic 8k Invitational hosted by Notre Dame.

The host Irish, ranked No. 6 in the Great Lakes Region, won the invitational but just one point over Canisius, ranked No. 10 in the Northeast Region. Loyola (Ill.), ranked No. 13 in the Midwest Region, was third and Duquesne, ranked No. 8 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, was fourth with a score of 121, just edging the Flyers' score of 128.


"We ran pretty well today. We had some good performances," UD Head Coach Jason Ordway said. "We got fifth overall and the top four teams are ranked in the top 13 of their respective regions so we're right on the cusp of doing something really big. This race will springboard us and I'm encouraged but what I've seen."

Junior Ethan Louis was UD's top finisher in a time of 25:38.7, besting his 8k PR by nearly 20 seconds.

"Ethan Louis ran really well and really smart," Ordway said. "He put himself out there early and continued to move up throughout the race."

Freshman Spencer Danielson was next in a time of 25:47.1

"Spencer Danielson made a huge move over the last mile and caught 10 or 15 runners and put us in a better position as a team," Ordway said.

Sophomore Tyler Adgalanis finished in 25:51.2; junior Kyle Lach in 26:05.08; junior Hunter Johnston in 26:17.1; freshman Chris Negri in 26:26.0; freshman Luke Hoover in 27:01.4; sophomore Michael George in 27:07.9; and freshman Ryan Kronk in 29:01.8

Another group of Flyers will compete at the Friendship Invitational in Cedarville Saturday, Sept. 19.