MARION, IND. -- Senior Jack Beakas (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) finished third overall to help lead the Trine University men's cross country team in the season-opening Wildcat Twilight Invitational hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.
As a team, the Thunder had 94 points to place third of 18 teams. Taylor (Ind.) University posted the lowest team score of 63 points and Huntington (Ind.) University was second with 69 points.
Beakas was one of two Thunder runners to finish in the top-10 and one of three to post a top-15 time. Beakas ran a time of 25:12.7, just over seven seconds behind the leader, to take third place among a field of 214 athletes.
Senior Derek Miller (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview) placed seventh in a time of 25:35.6 and fellow senior Neil O'Brien (Whiteland, Ind./Roncalli) posted a top-15 finish of 25:52.8 which was good enough for 12th place.
Senior Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) was the fourth Trine runner to cross the finish line and had a time of 26:27.7 to place 29th. Freshman Quinten Prieur (Constantine, Mich./Constantine) rounded out the top-five times for Trine in his first collegiate event with a mark of 26:50.5 and placed 44th overall.
"The men's team had a solid outing up front," said Head Coach Zach Raber. "We just didn't have quite enough depth at 4 and 5. Jack battled for the win throughout the race but fell off with about 400m to go. Another couple of weeks of training and our men will improve dramatically."
The men are scheduled to compete in the Midwest Intercollegiate hosted by Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill. on Friday, Sept. 25. The day is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (EST) with the men's race slated to start around 6:45 p.m.