Geneva, NY - Winning his second race of the fall, junior Alex Benway (Queensbury, NY) of the Clarkson University Cross Country team led a pack of 146 runners at the Cross Country Only Championships, helping the Golden Knights' men's squad claim first place among 15 teams on Saturday afternoon at Seneca Lake State Park.

The Golden Knights' men were easy winners with a low of 21 points. In second place, was SUNYIT with 81, followed by Paul Smith's (107), Hartwick College (124), Daemen College (132), SUNY ESF (182), Hobart (186), SUNY Canton (202), Morrisville State (219), Penn State Abington (259), Wells College (266), Potsdam State (327), Keuka College (378), D'Youville (403), and Hilbert College (452). The Clarkson women were third among 11 teams with 82 points. The Knights' women narrowly trailed William Smith (77) and Daemen College (81), while leading Hartwick (114), SUNY ESF (119), Keuka College (172), D'Youville (177), Potsdam State (178), Penn State Abington (225), Morrisville State (237), and SUNYIT (243).

Benway won the 8,000-meter men's race with a time of 26 minutes, 51 seconds, pacing the field by 21 seconds. That second-place finisher was teammate Pat Carroll (Queensbury, NY) with a time of 27:12. Three more runners finished in the top eight for Clarkson, with Neal Campbell (Queensbury, NY) taking fourth in 28:14, Matt Gammariello (Webster, NY) taking sixth in 28:20, and Dan Fritz (Cicero, NY) running the race in 28:25 for an eighth-place showing.

The women were nearly as impressive as the men in their finishes. Freshman Catherine Zarnofsky (Glenville, NY) took fourth place among 104 female runners in 20:51, followed by Maureen Hill (Latham, NY) in 11th place in 21:12. Freshman Natalie Worley (Williamsville, NY) came in 18th place in 21:48, while Jessica Hernandez (Owego, NY) was 22nd in 22:06. Freshman Erin Corrigan (Remsen, NY) rounded out the Clarkson scoring with a 27th-place finish in a time of 22:18.