Brandywine Takes 11th At Salisbury; Abel Breaks 8K Mark

SALISBURY, Md. -- The Penn State Brandywine men's cross country team finished 11th overall, led by freshman Brian Abel's (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) school record time, at Salisbury University's Don Cathcart Invitational on Saturday morning.

Abel smashed his own school record that he set three weeks ago at Lebanon Valley, besting the mark by 28 seconds, and now owns three of the top five 8K times in program history. His time of 27:34 on Saturday was good for 27th place, individually.

John Li (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) ran the ninth-fastest time in team history. He posted a time of 30:02 to place 71st in the field of 129 runners.

Ryan Cassidy (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) was the third Lion to cross the finish line, running to a time of 31:56, while Brendan Cleary (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) ran the race in 32:46. David Irby (Glenolden, Pa./Sun Valley) finished the 8K in 33:57.

As a team, Brandywine totaled 288 points to claim 11th in the 13-team field. NCAA Division III Stevenson University clinched the team title with 36 total points.

Brandywine will have a week off before its home invitational on Saturday, October 13.