PAUL SMITHS -- St. Lawrence University first-year student Jon Eng finished in second place overall on Wednesday afternoon at the 2010 North Country Five meet held at Paul Smiths College.

Eng finished in second place overall in the 5k race, the first of his collegiate career, with a time of 17:12.0. The Norwood native finished behind Clarkson's Alexander Benway, who won the race in 16:53.8.

"I think this race serves as a good confidence boost for our emerging, young runners," said St. Lawrence head men's cross country coach John Newman, who opted to rest the team's typical scoring group. "I thought the guys ran well on a very challenging Adirondack course."

SLU sophomore Landen Elliott-Knaggs was the second St. Lawrence finisher in fourth place overall in 17:19.1, while Tim Liponis (17:25), Jack Knych (17:39) and Steve Kiplagat (17:50) also earned top-10 finishes. Liponis and Knych finished in sixth and seventh place, respectively, followed by Kiplagat in 10th.

Andrew Sargrad and Kevin Machia had top-20 finishes in their debut event of 2010, as Sargrad was 15th and machia followed in 18th. First-year student Corey Hahnl was 22nd overall followed by Sean Callahan (24th) and Zach Nelson (30th).

Rounding out the Saints' line-up at the North Country Five meet on Wednesday were Spencer Fausel (31st), Mark Perlman (32nd), Ethan Self (34th), Doug Fox (36th), Kyle Blanchette (42nd) and Jake Pusey (62nd).

The Saints, ranked No. 12 in the national polls, will compete in their first true test of the season next weekend, Friday, September 17 at the Oneonta Invitational/Pre-Regional which will feature several premier teams in the country.