UTICA, NY - Utica University's men's cross country 2025 season began with a bang. In the SUNY Poly Short Course Invitational, Utica accounted for six of the top-10 runners, including a first place finish and a new course record. The Pioneers additionally placed 1st in the team scoring of the event.
The highlight of the event came when
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) crossed the finish line. Melita, who was recently named as an Empire 8 Player to Watch for the third time in his career, finished the race with a time of 18:49.5. The time was not only good enough to win Melita the race, but also set the course record that had stood since 2015. The previously standing record was set by Zakaria Djouma, a runner for Mohawk Valley Community College.
Five more Utica runners placed in the top-10.
Anthony Leotta (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) finished second, with a time of 20:09 followed by fourth place-finishing
Tobias Jeralds (Canaan, NY/Chatham) and his 20:21 finish time. Freshman
Killian Bauer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill) shined in his debut, placing sixth overall with a finish after 20:29.
Timothy Jeralds (Canaan, NY/Chatham Central) was the final sub-21:00 finisher, ending his race after 20:47 and placing eighth.
Ben Bellinger (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) and
Forest Martin (Poland, NY/Poland Central) rounded out the top 10 with times of 21:03 and 21:15, respectively.
Seven more Pioneers ran in the event. Three of them,
Joseph Santiago (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), Zachary Brown, and
Evan Humphrey (Utica, NY/Whitesboro), finished inside the top 20 with times of 21:58.9, 22:25.5 and 22:38.3.
Lucas Oakes (Brushton, NY/Brushton-Moira),
Jack Centola (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas),
Eddy Corporan (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C Ketcham), and
Nathan Sand (Beekmantown, NY/Beekmantown) completed the day for Utica.
Behind Utica, Oneonta placed second in team scoring, placing two runners in the top 10. Of their top seven runners as a team, all finished top-15. SUNY Cobleskill placed third with a 5th overall finish at the top of their team. SUNY Poly placed fourth in their home event. Mohawk Valley Community College competed in the event, and even placed 10th overall, but was not eligible for team scoring due to bringing only four runners.
The team will next compete in the Hamilton Short Course Invitational on September 13th in Clinton, NY. The event is scheduled to begin at noon.
