Torres leads HPU men’s cross country at Battle in Beantown

• Sophomore Alejandro Juan Torres led the Panthers with a 35th-place finish
• HPU placed 10th in an excellent field that included two nationally ranked teams and four regionally ranked squads
• The Panthers return to action Oct. 1 at the Asheville Cross Country Challenge

BOSTON – The High Point University men’s cross country team earned a 10th place finish amongst an elite field Friday at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown.

Sophomore Alejandro Juan Torres led the Panthers at historic Franklin Park, placing 35th in a time of 25:39.20.

“Considering this was the first ever 8k race for four of our seven runners, I thought we handled the day well given the strength of the field,” head coach Mike Esposito said. “I thought Vinny and Alejandro moved well. I love this group and I think we’re going to make a huge jump over the next six weeks.”

Dartmouth won the meet with 40 points, followed by No. 20 Providence (50) and No. 6 Arkansas (61). Brown (93) and Maine (183) rounded out the top five teams.

In addition to Torres, senior Vinny Todaro put together a strong race, finishing 37th in 25:43.

Senior and Brookline, Mass., product Chernet Sisay placed 59th in 26:14 while freshman Sean McGinnis crossed the finish line in 26:19 to finish 64th.

Sophomore Drew Roeber was HPU’s fifth runner and finished 83rd in 26:46.

Wrapping up the Panther contingent, freshman Will Elliott placed 93rd (27:10) and fellow freshman TJ Morales was 103rd (28:04).

The Panthers return to action on Oct. 1 at the Asheville Cross Country Challenge. The race will serve as the Big South preview meet, with the league meet being run on the course Oct. 28.