Kernersville, N.C. - Behind top-two scored finishes from its top runners this season – junior Steven Flynn and redshirt senior Stuart Lampen-Crowell – the George Mason University men's cross country team finished in the front of the pack of 18 teams in the 8-kilometer men's race of the Wake Forest Invitational on Friday.

Flynn (third overall – 24:50.42) and Lampen-Crowell (fourth – 24:58.73) finished behind unattached runners Luis Vargas and Grant Pollock and Mason did not have additional finishers among the top 25 overall in the 174-runner race, but this did not prevent the Patriots from occupying the top spot with 68 points and win their third consecutive meet this season. They were followed by UNC-Charlotte with 87 points and Appalachian State with 94 points. The host Wake Forest finished fourth with 112 points, beating out Southeast region rival Furman, who finished fifth.

"I was pleased in general with the results today although we can certainly run better and correct a couple of things in the next few weeks as we narrow in on [Atlantic 10 Conference Championship],” said Andrew Gerard, head coach for the men's team, after the win. “We are happy but we know we've got more in the tank."

The Patriots' third and fourth best finishers on the course at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex – redshirt freshman Grayson Morgan (28^th – 25:38.94) and junior Adam LaFemina (29^th – 25:43.37) also finished back-to-back for the final two spots in the top-20 scored finishes. The other three Patriots who contributed for the team win were redshirt sophomore Logan Miller (39^th – 25:54.32), junior Brent Coulter (63^rd – 26:23.49), and redshirt freshman Paul Adam (65^th – 26:25.87) while five additional runners competed – redshirt sophomore David Strickland (87^th – 26:48.81), redshirt sophomore Marcus Hatchett (102^nd – 27:12.72) and redshirt freshman trio Trent Lancaster (104^th – 27:13.28), Dustin Jutras (105^th – 27:14.89) and Jonathan Schloth (122^nd – 27:59.64).

In the women's 6-kilometer race that followed, Mason finished eight out of 18 teams with 170 points. Atlantic 10 Conference rival took the first place with 53 points and three top-10 scored finishes – second, seventh, and 10^th, the Appalachian State women's team repeated the men's second-place finish with 70 points while the hosts from Wake Forest finished third in the team standings with 86 points.

Freshman Ciara Donohue was the best finisher for Mason, completing the course with a time of 22:31.62, which was good for the 21^st-best finish overall. Three additional Patriots found a place among the top 50 runners in the 173-runner race – sophomore Bailey Kolonich (29^th – 22:39.74), redshirt senior Jennifer Nakamura (35^th – 22:47.95) and freshman Carolyn Conley (43^rd – 22:56.24). Senior Victoria Doss (81^st – 23:45.34), freshman Caitlin Kelly (88^th – 23:54.14), sophomore Rachel Lewis (96^th – 24:02.91), freshman Suzanne Abribat (100^th – 24:19.21) and senior Siobhan Klie (109^th – 24:46.51) also competed for Mason in the last race before the A-10 Championship in Mechanicsville, Va. on Oct. 31.

"Overall I thought the women did a good job today," said Sita Ewell, head coach for the women's team. "I was really happy with the way our top four ran, especially Carolyn. She has been making steady progress throughout the season and is now in our top five and really contributing to our team score.  Likewise with Ciara. However, we still have some fine tuning to do to get ready for the A-10 championship in two weeks."