The men’s cross country team came in third place on Oct. 17 at the Penn State National, riding a fourth-place finish by sophomore Hugo Beamish. Beamish covered the 5.2-mile course in a time of 25:19, just nine seconds behind the first-place finisher.

Sophomore Keith Capecci followed Beamish with a 15th-place finish, while junior Daniel Lewis came in 17th. Freshman Carl Mackenzie and senior Steven Curley were the fourth and fifth Villanova runners to cross the finish line, respectively.

The No. 28 Wildcats obtained their second-straight third-place finish of the season, edging the fourth-place Cortland State team by a single point in the scoring column. Meanwhile, the No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas took first, and the home team Nittany Lions of Penn State came in second.

Villanova’s effort at the Penn State National mirrored the result of its showing at Lehigh University on Oct. 3 in the Paul Short Invitational, at which the team also finished third with a strong showing from the New Zealand-born Beamish.

The men’s team now looks ahead to the Big East Championship meet, which takes place during Halloween on Oct. 31 in Van Cortland Park, N.Y.