LEXINGTON, Va.- VMI's Anthony Harris kicked off his senior campaign the right way, by winning the VMI Cross Country Opener with a time of 16:09 on a cool and wet Friday afternoon at the Virginia Horse Center. However, his top time wasn't enough to take down a tight pack of runners from Cincinnati, as the Bearcats claimed the team title by placing five runners in the top eight in the three-team competition.

Harris was followed by UC's top finisher, sophomore Randy King, who turned in a 16:13 on the 5K course. Radford's top finisher came in third, as junior Joel Hanlon was clocked at 16:21. VMI junior Donnie Cowart placed fourth with a time of 16:22, followed by Bearcat junior John Dixon (16:27). In the team competition, UC's score of 28 narrowly beat out VMI's total of 36, while Radford collected 69 points in the event.

The Keydets got top ten finishes from sophomore Pat Eggleston (9th place, 16:47) and junior Kurt Able (10th place,16:57). Filling out the scoring for the hosts was freshman John Buckland, who finished 12th in his first collegiate race by turning in a 16:59 mark.

"Anthony ran a solid race today, putting up a very good time to take first overall," said head coach Paul Spangler. "I was very encouraged to see Donnie right there in the mix, getting third place, and I was impressed with John Buckland today, as a freshman he stepped up and finished as one of our top five. It was also not only good to see Ben Switzer racing again after being out for nine months, but he was our sixth finisher today, so he's definitely making steps in the right direction. I knew Cincy would be tough to beat, but if we ran well I thought we'd have a shot. We made it close, but they really ran well today."

Other Keydet competitors included junior Ben Switzer (17th, 17:11), freshman Matt Satterwhite (19th, 17:16), sophomore Sean Peterson (27th, 17:48), freshman T.J. Laird (29th, 17:58), senior Brian Welch (30th, 18:20), junior Kevin Sullivan (31st, 18:20), sophomore Andrew Rademaker (32nd, 18:29), freshman Dogucan Mazicioglu (33rd, 18:40), freshman Garland Gray (34th, 18:42) and sophomore Cory Houck (35th, 19:30).

Next weekend, the Keydets will take part in the Blue Ridge Relay event, a fundraiser for the team that will be held locally next Saturday through Monday.