The St. Lawrence University men's cross country team, ranked third in the latest national poll, posted an impressive victory at the 2011 Saratoga Invitational on Saturday. The Saints, led by seniors John Johnston and Seth Jackson, ­finished with only 24 points, 41 better than second place Vassar.

The Scarlet and Brown had four top-5 finishes, including Johnston, Jackson, rookie Scott Smolensky and junior Sam Rakoc. Johnston won the event, his second title of the year, with a time of 25:39. Jackson followed in third place overall in 25:57 while Smolensky (26:10) and Rakoc (26:11) finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Rounding out the team's scoring on Saturday was senior Alex Calderwood, who clocked in at 26:31 in 11th position overall out of 111 runners. Calderwood's finish secured the second consecutive win for the Saints at the Saratoga Invitational, as they also won the event in their last showing in 2009.

First-year students Aaron Tompkins and Dan Driscoll and senior Jack Knych all had top-25 finishes on Saturday, closing in 20th, 21st and 24th places respectively.

Also representing St. Lawrence at the Saratoga Invitational were Zach Nelson (27th), Brendan Courneene (34th), Trevor Bibb (36th), Spencer Fausel (37th), Sean Callahan (44th), Jon Eng (48th) and Corey Hahnl (64th).

The Saints will compete in the 2011 Paul Short Invitational in two weeks on Friday, September 30 in Bethlehem, PA. The team will then host two consecutive events, including the Hoffmann Invitational/Pre-Regional on October 8 and the 2011 NYSCTC Championships on October 22.