EASTON, Pa. – Junior Christian Roberts placed sixth in a field of 68 racers to lead the Saint Joseph's men's cross country squad to a third-place team finish in a field of six teams at the 2018 Lafayette Leopard Invitational, held at Lafayette College's Metzgar Fields on Saturday morning. The Hawks totaled 70 points with an average 8k time of 27:26.

In a sea of eight Marist finishers in the top nine, Roberts used a mile average of 5:23.6 to cross in a collegiate-best 8k time of 26:48.6 for the top-ten finish, his fastest performance in the event since September 16, 2016.

Junior Antonio Amaral finished next for the Crimson and Gray in 14th (27:15.0) while a trio of rookies in Aidan Sauer (27:39.5), Ira Daly (27:45.6 PR), and Zach Smith (27:46.1 PR) rounded out SJU's scoring unit; Daly and Smith both went sub-28:00 for the first time this season.

Freshman Jon McGrory (28:09.7 PR) and senior Matthew Mullin-Garcia (28:17.9) finished as SJU's #6 and #7 runners. 

Saint Joseph's begins championship season at the 2018 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship, set for Saturday, October 27 at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. The men's five-mile run is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. For a complete meet preview and the release of SJU's A-10 Championship roster, stay tuned to SJUHawks.com.