KEENE, NH – Saint Joseph's finished third with 78 team points in the 8K Keene State College Invitational on Saturday. Sophomore Joe DiSalvo (Derry, N.H.) led the Monks and placed 15th overall with a 28:57 performance.

The host-Owls ran away with the crown, having placed the top eight runners en route to notching the minimum 15 points. Fitchburg State finished second with 58 points and New England College rounded out the participants, tallying 104 points to finish behind the Monks in fourth place.  

Senior Thomas Paquette (Bolton, Conn.) was the Owls' front-runner, racing to the individual championship with a time of 26:42 on the damp five-mile course. 

For the Monks, Faisal Abdillahi (Lewiston, Maine) ran a 29:24 time to place 18th while freshmen Taidghe Hagan (Reading, Mass.) and Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) toured the trail in 31:19 and 31:24 to finish 30th and 31st, respectively.

Also competing for Saint Joseph's: Jeff Merrill (Fitchburg, Mass.) (33:11, 39), Billy Brooks (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) (34:46, 44), Mark McCarraher (Franklin, Mass.) (36:56, 48), and Sam Dunay (Groton, Conn.) (38:38, 52).

St. Joe's will host the 2012 Runnin' Monks Invitational on Saturday, October 6th. The men's 8K race begins at 12:00 PM.