CARLISLE, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's cross country team placed third overall at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational on Saturday. With it being just the second race of the season, all 16 Diplomats that competed did so in the 4,000 meter "short" race. Only the top three finishers on each team counted towards the overall combined champion, giving F&M 29 points as Dickinson (21 points) and Gettysburg (27 points) claimed the top two positions.

After taking home the individual title during the first race on his home course last week, Zach Houff placed fourth on Saturday in the field of 115 runners who competed in the 4,000 meter race. Houff finished in a time of 12:21.6, just seconds from being the top finisher in the Centennial Conference. Tommy Tapino added a ninth-place showing as he completed the course in 12:44.6. Walter Mulroy also got in under the 13-minute mark with a time of 12:58.9 to place 16th as the team's final scoring runner.

Six more Diplomats finished under the 14-minute mark, led by Asher Walton's time of 13:04.5. George Williams shortly followed in a time of 13:16.7, while Sean Gorman crossed the line in 13:24.7. Brian Mix (13:30.0) and Aiden Cotter (13:30.8) finished in back-to-back positions as both were among the top 40 runners. Jack Johnson was just outside of the top 50 with his time of 13:53.53.

Rounding out a strong contingent of Diplomats were Milo Burns (14:03.6), Harvey Li (14:06.9), Chase Bellamy (14:19.4), Addison Neuen (14:23.3), Cole Smith (14:46.1), Rowan Grant (15:01.2), and Geoffrey Beane (15:21.5).

Men's cross country now has three weeks of training as the team prepares for the prestigious Paul Short Run held at Lehigh University on Friday, October 2. With a couple more weeks of training, that race will be the team's first 8,000 meter race of the 2026 season.