Saratoga, NY - Senior Alex Benway (Queensbury, NY) finished 47 seconds off the pace, but still managed to finish ninth overall to lead the Clarkson University Cross Country team at the RPI Early-Season Invitational held Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Spa State Park.

The Golden Knights will race once again next weekend when they travel to the Cortland Invitational. Clarkson placed fifth out of seven teams on the men's side of the event at Saratoga, while the women came in sixth place among six squads.

Benway was ninth overall among 111 runners with a time of 26 minutes, 26 seconds in the 8,000-meter event. Freshman Austin Holbrook (Corning, NY) was the next Golden Knight across the finish line as he came in 46th place with a time of 27:47. The next three Clarkson runners were bunched together as Pat Carroll (Queensbury, NY), Neal Campbell (Queensbury, NY), and Nick Marshall (Huntington, VT) finished 51st, 53rd, and 55th, respectively. Senior Matt Gammariello (Webster, NY) was next for the Green and Gold in 61st, while Adam Merkwan (Meredeith, NH), a freshman, rounded out Clarkson's top seven with a 63rd-place showing.

On the women's side, which was a straight three-mile run, senior Audrey Keene (Hilton, NY) was the top finisher for Clarkson, coming in 24th out of 75 participants with a time of 19:34. Freshman Sarah Governale (Wading River, NY) was next for Clarkson in 35th with a time if 20:02, and the final five for Clarkson finished in a 12-spot range in the middle of the pack. Maureen Hill (Latham, NY) was 47th, Jessica Hernandez (Owego, NY), Erin Corrigan (Remsen, NY), and Rachel Bachman (Queensbury, NY) finished consecutively at 52nd, 53rd, and 54th, respectively, and Eleanor Vane (Fairport, NY) ended Clarkson's scoring in 58th.