ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Macomb Cross Country made their longest trip of the regular season this weekend and the men's team made the most of it with a sixth place overall finish out of an 18-team field that primarily consisted of NCAA Division II and Division III competition at Roberts Wesleyan University's Harry F. Anderson Invitational. The Monarchs checked in with a team score of 176, finishing well ahead of a NJCAA Region XII counterpart in the field and in front of several NCAA programs. 

Michael Nivala Jr. continued his stellar sophomore campaign with an incredible 8K PR performance. Nivala ran a 25:19.2, clearing his previous 8K PR by 51 seconds. The impressive time was good for third overall in the NCAA DII and DIII field and helped lead the Monarchs to a strong showing overall. 

Fellow standout sophomore Jacob Kosidlo was near the front of Saturday's pack as well, posting a time of 26:08.6.

John Blaskowski crossed the line in 31st place with a time of 26:25.6 while Mario Carducci ran 26:49.1 to finish 49th. Henry Terrien capped the scoring for Macomb with a 109th place finish and time of 28:00.2. 

Also running in the men's race for the Monarchs was Chris Sayers, who ran 28:01.8 and finished 111th. Noah Nasceif ran 28:29.8 to finish 142nd, while Seamus Murphy posted a time of 29:27.3 to finish 180th. Dylan Penberthy competed on Saturday despite battling an illness throughout the week and finished with a time of 29:30.6.

After a strong performance this weekend, the Monarchs shift their attention to Friday's (Oct. 2) MCCAA Eastern Conference Championship. The Monarch men will go for the 'three-peat' next week after capturing the MCCAA East crown in 2024 and 2025. Friday's men's race will take place at 1 p.m. from Stony Creek Metropark's Eastwood Beach.