Competing against five impressive Division I squads, the Amherst men’s cross country team opened its season with a successful fourth place finish at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Running a time of 19:35 in the six-kilometer race, sophomore Cosmo Brossy led the team with a ninth place overall finish. Just two seconds behind, senior Steven Lucey earned the 12th spot overall. The remainder of the purple and white’s scoring runners finished within the top-54 of the talented 95-runner field.

Brothers Raymond Meijer ’17 and Tucker Meijer ’19 were impressive for the purple and white, notching times of 19:49 and 20:09 to finish 22nd and 38th overall, respectively. Rounding out the top five, Justin Barry ’18 finished four seconds and four places behind Tucker Meijer. Jacob Silverman ’19 and Peter Horton ’18 were the final Amherst runners to score, adding to the impressive overall team finish. Silverman claimed 46th overall with a time of 20:23 while Horton captured 54th with a time of 20:47.

The Amherst men totaled 110 points to best host University of Massachusetts Amherst and Sacred Heart University, earning a fourth place finish. University of Maine took the team title with an incredible score of 35 points, while the University of Connecticut, the defending champions of the tournament, finished in a close second with an impressive 41 points.

In a distant third, the University of Vermont finished with 93 points. Maine’s Jesse Orach won the meet’s individual crown, finishing the 6 kilometer run in 18:59, and crossing the finish line in 19:03, Connor Rog of Sacred Heart placed second overall, while the University of Connecticut’s Parker Timmerman took third (19:20).

The purple and white also had several other notable performances this weekend, which is promising as the team prepares for imperative, qualifying league races later in the fall season.

Kevin Dooley ’19 and Chris Butko ’18 both finished in the overall top-60. Dooley crossed the line in 57th (20:53) and Butko finished in 60th (20:57), adding to the purple and white’s total.

Three additional Amherst harriers finished inside the top-70 with Aaron Zambrano ’18 taking 62nd (20:58), Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 capturing 65th (21:01) and first-year Spencer Ferguson-Dryden notching a 69th place finish (21:13).

The Amherst men’s cross country team returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 24 traveling to NESCAC rival Williams to compete in the Purple Valley Invitational and hope to defend their title as champions of the invitational.