STANDISH, ME – Johnson & Wales University cruised to a men's team title with 15 points in the 8th Annual Runnin' Monks Invitational hosted by Saint Joseph's College on Saturday. The Wildcats left no doubt as to which team would take the crown as the first five finishers wore the JWU acronym on their chest.

Johnson & Wales runners Jeff Hartman '13 (Osseo, MN), Greg Redfield '13 (Penfield, NY)and James Vance '11 (Newton, MA) crossed the finish line running shoulder to shoulder to earn first, second and third place individually. Fellow Wildcats Brian Dinan '14 (Geneva, NY) and Nathan Smith '12 (Jamesberg, NJ) finished in the fourth and fifth positions to help provide their team with the top five spots and the meet minimum of 15 team points.

Lyndon State logged the next three finishers and five of the top 12 overall to place second with 44 points and University of Maine at Farmington notched 79 team points to place third. Saint Joseph's (114), Lasell (131), Maine-Machias (145), Maine-Presque Isle (201) and Daniel Webster (213) rounded out the field. Rivier and Thomas also participated in the event, but neither program featured the minimum of five runners.

Eric Friend '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) paced the Royal Blue and finished ninth with a 29:26 effort, while Jacob Kostik '14 (Durham, ME) earned a 17th place finish with a 31:37 performance. Jeffrey Letellier '12 (Biddeford, ME) (, 21st, 31:49), Bryndon Page '14 (Windham, ME) (38th, 34:19) and Michael Greatorex '13 (Gorham, ME) (42nd, 35:09) all finished in the SJC top five.

The eighth-annual Runnin Monks Invitational turned out to be one of the largest fields in the history of the event, as 54 women and 59 men competed in the two races.

Saint Joseph's will compete in the Maine State Championship meet, hosted by Bowdoin College, on Saturday, October 16th. The women's event begins at 11:00 AM with the men to follow at 12:00 PM.