Oct. 12, 2001

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Duquesne's men's cross country team took first place at the 12-team Duquesne Invitational Friday afternoon at Schenley Park. Malone College, an NAIA school from Canton, Ohio, finished in second place. The Dukes placed five runners in the top ten.

The Dukes were led again by Ryan Bender, a freshman from Indiana (PA) High School, who finished in third place (out of 108 athletes) with a run of 26:19, just 0:12 seconds behind the leader, Dave Gramlich from Malone. Bender is this week's Atlantic 10 Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Week.

Duquesne took the next three spots: senior Brian Blackburn (above) from Richland High School in Johnstown, PA, finished in fourth place with a run of 26:23; junior Dave Eldridge (Black Lick, PA/Blairsville) came in fifth place with a run of 26:31; and, senior Sam Shea (Pittsburgh, PA/Brentwood) followed in sixth place with a run of 26:37.

Kevin Shirk, a senior from Hampton High School in Allison Park, PA, completed the red and blue quintet with a run of 26:49 for eighth place.

Duquesne's next event is the Atlantic 10 championship on Saturday, October 27th. The event will be held in Philadelphia at the Belmont Plaza.